Former Manchester United man Jesse Lingard caught the attention of Reds fans when posting a picture of himself and Marcus Rashford on social media earlier this week.
Lingard left boyhood club United permanently last summer, penning a one-year deal at newly-promoted Nottingham Forest after his contract with United expired last June. The former England international had fallen out of favour at Old Trafford, with off-pitch personal issues understandably affecting his form under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
Despite his on-field struggles, Lingard remained a much-loved figure among his teammates right up until his release last June. And the 30-year-old has seemingly kept in touch with fellow Manchester academy graduate Rashford, posting a picture of the pair together on Monday.
The picture alongside Rashford was one of several posted by Lingard. But it was the one that caught attention from Reds supporters.
Instagram user @rashfordreels commented: “you cannot just casually drop a pic of you and marcus and expect me to be okay.”
@mohaa.issaksaid wroter: “I CAN SEE UNCLE RASHY”, while @ig.muminah commented: “omg my favs lingard and rashford .” @_doaaa_jesse said: “jesse and marcus screaming.”
Lingard opened up on his struggles earlier this year, admitting on the Diary of a CEO podcast that he ‘didn’t want to be on the pitch’ at times.
Lingard said: “The depression was so bad she [his mother] couldn’t really cope and she needed to go away and get help. But leaving me with my little sister, who was 11 at the time, and my little brother, who was 15, for me, I was still going through my own things as well.
“So I wasn’t really the big brother they wanted at the time. They always get the fun, laughy, bubbly Jesse and I was going through my own things, so I was on autopilot. I just wasn’t there, mentally wasn’t there. I was on the pitch but I didn’t want to be on the pitch, I didn’t want to play.
“I didn’t want to quit football, I never would have quit football, but I needed a break. I’m going into games just with a mind blankness. I didn’t want to be on the pitch, I didn’t want to be there, so of course I was playing badly.”
