"Jesse [Lingard] has good intelligence, which when combined with his energy and ability, makes for a player with a great future ahead of him. Jesse is a popular member of the squad and I am delighted he has signed a new contract."
Jose Mourinho's lofty words of praise reflected Lingard's standing in the Manchester United squad when he committed to a new four-year contract worth a reported £100,000-per-week in April 2017. Lingard was a late bloomer at Old Trafford, with his big breakthrough moment coming a year earlier in the FA Cup final.
The then-23-year-old's brilliant volley against Crystal Palace secured United a 2-1 win at Wembley in what turned out to be Louis van Gaal's final game, and he built on that platform by becoming a key player under the Dutchman's successor. Lingard also scored in United's 2017 Carabao Cup final triumph over Southampton, and at the time, most fans agreed with Mourinho's assessment of his future potential.
The versatile attacking midfielder went on to register 20 goal contributions for United across all competitions in Mourinho's second season at the helm, which earned him a place in England's 2018 World Cup squad. Gareth Southgate's side surprised everyone en route to a fourth-place finish in Russia, with Lingard featuring in five of their seven games, and excitement was building ahead of the peak years of his career.
Unfortunately, that positivity soon gave way to despair for Lingard, who returned to United with a niggling groin injury. "From that point, I couldn’t get back to where I had been. I was struggling mentally as well as physically," he told the Players' Tribune in 2021.
Fast-forward to the present day, and Lingard is spending his days training alone in Dubai as a free agent, having seen his stock plummet following a dismal spell at Nottingham Forest last season. The 31-year-old finds himself at a crossroads after seeing several possible transfer routes slammed shut, and if he's not careful, early retirement may be the only option he has left.