Jesse Lingard has opened up on the troubles he endured when slipping out of favour with Manchester United and England, but is happy to be through those dark days and working towards a brighter future.
There was a time when the 28-year-old hit rock bottom, with even a positive working relationship with Jose Mourinho unable to prevent him from asking questions of whether he would ever rediscover a spark.
A loan spell at West Ham in 2020-21 helped bring the best out of Lingard and he is now able to look back positively on the experiences that have earned him favour with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Gareth Southgate and Bruno Fernandes.
Lingard had enjoyed a breakthrough campaign at Old Trafford immediately prior to Mourinho’s arrival in 2016 and would be a regular under the Portuguese before niggling injuries started to set in.
He has told The Players’ Tribune of working with one of the most charismatic coaches in world football: “Me and Jose had a good relationship generally, though, I have to say. He was good to me. Before all the injury stuff, he trusted me, put me in for important games. We won trophies and he made me a winner. He could just bring out that side in you.
