The former Manchester United star, Jesse Lingard, completed his transfer move to FC Seoul on Thursday. Lingard had been without a club since leaving Nottingham Forest at the end of his contract last summer.
Spending 22 years at Manchester United, he expressed readiness for a new challenge. The club has not disclosed the details of his two-year contract, but Lingard mentioned having multiple offers.
Jesse Lingard to FC Seoul: why did he move to K-League?
Jesse Lingard had only 20 appearances for Nottingham Forest in all competitions and played in only four games in 2023. Lingard was known as one of the most exciting talents in the footballing world. He has scored six goals in 32 appearances for the England national team and was also in the 2018 World Cup squad.
He scored the winning goal for Manchester United in the 2016 FA Cup final but still couldn’t be a regular starter for the Manchester United team. While talking to the reporters Jesse Lingard said that it took two to three days to negotiate the deal with FC Seoul. He said, “Everyone is happy with the deal and now I’ve finally signed I can concentrate on my football.”
FC Seoul, who finished seventh in the twelve-team table last season, stated that they have signed “a player with the biggest name value in the 41-year history of the K League.”
Lingard’s past issues with depression
The former Manchester United star opened up about his struggle with depression. On the Dairy of the CEO podcast, Lingard talked about his mother’s depression and how he believed that he was the root cause of her depression.
He said, “She’d be all day. I’d go in and ask for money for ice cream and she’d still be in bed. “She could drop me off at school at 8 o’clock and sleep until 3 o’clock when she picks me up. That’s how bad it was. We were really going through it.”
The added pressure in his personal life began to affect his on the pitch due to which he turned towards alcohol to cope with them.
He added, “I was drinking before bed, having night caps. I look back now and think, what am I doing that for? What I needed was something to try and take the pain away and put me at ease and try and forget what was going on But it just makes it ten times worse”
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