Jesse Lingard ‘too good’ to warm Man Utd bench but can ‘reassess’ future in January, says West Ham coach Stuart Pearce
JESSE LINGARD is too good to sit on Manchester United's bench this season, says West Ham coach Stuart Pearce.
The England forward, 28, faces a huge battle to get in manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side following the return of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Discussing Lingard's future, Pearce told talkSPORT: "He's missed the opportunity to leave United in this transfer window.
"He can reassess his situation come January once again and decide whether there’s an opportunity to move clubs. He holds the cards, Jesse.
"The most important thing for him at the moment is his football. He's playing the odd game for United and also playing extremely well for England - and those performances for England might help him get in the United side.
"I think he’s too good a player to be sat on the outside of it not playing and he’s at an age where he needs to be playing."
Lingard is expected to fall down the pecking order at Old Trafford following the arrival of Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund.
Solskjaer can also deploy Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood, Amad Diallo, Juan Mata and Paul Pogba out wide.
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Lingard has featured just once in the Premier League this season and made no appearances in the same competition for Man Utd last term.
He was forced to spend the second half of that campaign on loan at West Ham but enjoyed a stunning revival under manager David Moyes.
Lingard scored nine Prem goals to help the East London side finish sixth in the table and qualify for this season's Europa League.
Pearce's talkSPORT colleague and Aston Villa legend Gabriel Agbonlahor also believes Lingard's playing time at United will be limited.
Lingard wants to fight for his place. Jesse is in the plans at the moment.
Solskjaer, July 2021
He added: "If you look at that Manchester United team, where does he start?
"They’re definitely going to play a sitter, either Fred or [Scott] McTominay and you have got [Bruno] Fernandes, Pogba. He's not going to start in front of them in that system.
"I just want to see him playing football. Last season he was unbelievable; happy; smile on his face; playing every week; even taking penalties. He was the main man at West Ham.
"To go from that, I'm sure he will want to stay at Manchester United but after two, three more weeks you're not playing, you'll be like, 'I wish I'd gone out on loan or got the move done.'"