Former Premier League striker Charlie Austin is concerned about Jesse Lingard as the Man Utd player has “taken two or three steps back” this season.
Lingard is out of contract in June and he is set to leave Man Utd. He has only started twice in the Premier League this term.
He was reportedly ‘dismayed’ that he did get a send-off on Monday night when Man Utd hosted Brentford at Old Trafford.
Fuss over Man Utd send-off for Lingard shows why Rangnick owes him nothing…
The Englishman was on loan at West Ham United last season. He was involved in 13 goals from his 16 league outings for the Hammers.
Newcastle United attempted to sign him in January but Austin believes Lingard should have left Man Utd last summer:
“With Jesse Lingard, staying at Manchester United for the following year, I think he’s taken two or three steps back, I really do,” Austin told talkSPORT.
“His stock was so high at West Ham, every week goals or assists. He went there and really changed their season, his stock was so high.
“Then he wants to go back to Manchester United and fight for his place and unfortunately, he just couldn’t get it right, and this year it’s not worked out. And now you’re looking at it – what are the possibilities for Jesse Lingard now?’
“Now it’s time for him to have a clean break and I just felt like last year at West Ham that was the time for him to go.
“You’d have to say West Ham [as a destination], you’d have to put Newcastle in the mix. Every player that’s part of the top six that’s no longer wanted by their clubs, Newcastle’s name is going to pop up.”
Elsewhere, Real Madrid star Toni Kroos has revealed that he came close to joining Man Utd when David Moyes was in charge:
“I knew beforehand that United wanted me,” Kroos said (quotes via Sports Joe). “And Moyes absolutely underlined that. It was a really nice afternoon with very pleasant people. We talked a lot about United’s football plan, which convinced me.
“But we also got to know each other as people. We knew quite a bit about the Moyes family afterwards. We talked about how we lived and how we all imagined life as a family.
“In the end, we broke up to do it. So we agreed verbally. The next step should be to look at everything on the spot in Manchester. The move would not have been that complicated, after all, we only had one child at the time, seven months old. It would all have worked.”
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