Jesse Lingard has admitted he was "crying on the way home" after deciding not to accept sitting on the bench "for money" at Manchester United.

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• Product of the Red Devils' academy
• Left Old Trafford as a free agent in 2022
• Now plying his trade in South Korea

• Table of Contents

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The England international is a product of the Red Devils’ fabled academy system. He took in 232 appearances for the Premier League heavyweights, scoring 35 goals, but opted to walk away as a free agent in the summer of 2022.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Lingard made no top-flight appearances for United in 2020-21, leading to him enjoying a productive loan spell at West Ham, and his situation barely improved after being welcomed back into the Old Trafford fold by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

• WHAT JESSE LINGARD SAID

  Lingard has told of why he severed ties with his boyhood club: “Being in the same environment for a long time… it kind of stifles you. In football, you’ve always got ups and downs. You’ve got to be mentally strong. And, you know, sometimes at United, I wasn’t. Things happen off the pitch that you can’t really control… it affects you on the pitch.

  “I spoke to Ole and a couple of staff members and they understood, because they’re human as well. It comes to a certain point where, when you’re not playing regularly, you’re not just going to sit there for the money.”

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  DID YOU KNOW?

  Lingard added on the realisation that he was no longer a Manchester United player: “I was really dialled in and locked in at that time. The way I played, when you come back to your home club, you’re expecting to play. Obviously, that didn’t happen. You get frustrated.

  “My application in training each day was always 100 per cent, you know… But, you come to a certain time where you need to leave. The last day, I was crying on the way home… to leave was obviously emotional but it was what I needed to do.”

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