Manchester United forward Jesse Lingard has revealed he could have joined Manchester City’s academy as a youngster rather than signing for the Red Devils.
The England international has said he had offers from the Citizens, Liverpool, Everton and Crewe at the age of seven before snapped up by United two years later:
“It was left down to me to pick a club and I felt United were best suited to me personally. [Manchester] City, Liverpool, Everton and I think Crewe at the time (were interested) but I knew Man United was my home.”
City supporters on Twitter are not particularly upset that they missed out on Lingard:
Dodged a bullet there pic.twitter.com/YaQvvyv2Un
— DI ????team back2back champs (@MCFCinMileHigh) November 26, 2019
Lucky escape that…
— Darryl Barnett ??? (@BarnettDarryl) November 27, 2019
We were interested in this show pony? Glad we missed out on him.
— Brad Minoski (@IamBradMinoski) November 27, 2019
— Dom Hughes (@DomHughes10) November 27, 2019
Thank god he didn't sign for city
— Irishlgeprogrammes (@Irishlgeprogra1) November 27, 2019
????? Fantastic
— Mihloti Williams (@FLONJ) November 26, 2019
Oh no. We missed an absolute diamond there??
— Luke Gutteridge (@LukeGutteridge2) November 26, 2019
Glad he chose Utd.
— BirdYellowHead (@YungHusband_) November 26, 2019
Crewe may be back in for him
— Grstreble (@grstreble) November 26, 2019
Lingard has not scored a domestic goal since a 3-1 win over Arsenal in the FA Cup in January and has struggled for form for most of the year.
At Manchester City, he probably wouldn’t have made the matchday squad this season, with manager Pep Guardiola having so much depth in attacking areas.
Players like David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden are all exceptional talents. In contrast, United don’t have a great deal of creativity in midfield areas and Lingard is very much at the right club in the eyes of City fans.
