Jesse Lingard told to apologise to Man Utd after Old Trafford return

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Jesse Lingard ‘wasn’t good enough’ to play for Manchester United and should ‘apologise’ for how he portrayed his summer exit, according to former Red Devils defender Paul Parker. The 30-year-old was welcomed warmly on his return to Old Trafford on Tuesday, but his departure was regrettably sour.

Lingard’s final season was disastrous, rarely getting a game under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick after an impressive short loan spell at West Ham United.

And his memorable time at Old Trafford came to a bitter end when Rangnick snubbed him in United’s final home game, denying him an emotional farewell.

After leaving as a free agent when his contract expired in July, Lingard slammed United for a final 12 months ridden with ‘false promises’ and made a surprise move to newly-promoted Nottingham Forest.

There were no hard feelings when he returned to M16 in Forest’s 3-0 defeat earlier this week, but Parker believes Lingard’s accusations of disrespect were hypocritical.

He told BonusBetCodes: “Jesse Lingard wasn’t disrespected at all at Man United, and for him to say that is totally wrong.

“He is a local boy, and now he is disrespecting the club instead of looking himself in the mirror.

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“Jesse wasn’t good enough to play for Man United, and he needs to acknowledge that instead of coming up with accusations about the club.”

Lingard cited the toxic ‘politics’ surrounding the club as one of the reasons he didn’t feature last term. However, Parker has dismissed that suggestion.

“To talk about politics as the reasons why he was a failure is rubbish,” Parker added. “You should never use that sentence when talking about football, and if he really wants to talk politics, he should go and talk to Gary Neville.

“One day, he will hopefully be mature enough to see that he disrespected the club by putting this in the newspaper and then should apologise to the club and the fans.”

Lingard joined United as a seven-year-old, lifting the FA Youth Cup before registering 35 goals and 21 assists in 232 senior appearances.

The England international netted in three separate cup finals, lifting the Europa League, FA Cup, League Cup and Community Shield with his boyhood club.

He could be a free agent again next summer after only penning a one-year contract at Forest and with Steve Cooper’s side staring relegation in the face.

But with United looking ahead rather than in the past under Erik ten Hag, a permanent return isn’t likely on the cards.

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