It\u2019s Jesse Lingard\u2019s birthday. He turns 31 today and, at this stage of his life, he must realise it is not going to be easy shifting some of the perceptions that come from being a non-footballing footballer. For now, at least.<\/p>\n
Speak to Lingard\u2019s former team-mates and they will talk about a guy who has been popular at all his clubs and played at a level, including a World Cup semi-final, that automatically commands respect among his fellow pros.<\/p>\n
But it is also a harsh reality that many others will be wondering how a player with Lingard\u2019s record of achievement has spent so long without a club and seems less troubled by that situation than you might assume.<\/p>\n
Lingard last played competitive football in April, a two-minute substitute appearance for Nottingham Forest<\/a> against his old club Manchester United<\/a>. His last 90-minute performances in the Premier League<\/a> came with Forest in August 2022 and, before that, you have to go back another 15 months to find the previous one, on loan to West Ham<\/a> from United.<\/p>\n Since then, it has largely been a period of drift<\/a> for a player who had previously won 32 England caps and contributed to some of United\u2019s happier moments since Sir Alex Ferguson\u2019s retirement, including scoring the winning goal in the 2016 FA Cup final. There have been some nagging injuries, some personal issues and only sporadic glimpses of his undoubted talent.<\/p>\n And, little more than two years since his last England<\/a> appearance, the life of \u2018JLingz\u2019 involves an entirely different routine these days: taking a ball and going outside, alone, other than a personal trainer, to work on his fitness.<\/p>\n Something similar happened to Michael Owen when he left United at the end of the 2011-12 season and it quickly became apparent that a player who was once football royalty, with all the superstar\u2019s wealth and accessories, may have to re-evaluate his position within the sport.<\/p>\n Owen, like Lingard, was in his early thirties. His highlights reel was even more extensive<\/a>, as a former Ballon d\u2019Or winner, but age had also started to become his biggest opponent. And, though neither man is ever going to end up on Skid Row, it cannot be easy trying to adjust when the boundaries shift and the sport, as a whole, stops looking at you so favourably.<\/p>\n In Owen\u2019s case, he was too old, too expensive and too injury-prone for the elite clubs and there were times over a long and challenging summer when he contemplated abandoning football to devote himself to his horse racing business.<\/p>\n \u201cI did get a couple of enquiries from overseas \u2014 one from Vancouver Whitecaps, a Canada-based MLS<\/a> side, and one from an Australian side, Newcastle Jets,\u201d Owen wrote in his 2019 autobiography. \u201cWhen I considered those two possibilities, neither particularly appealed.<\/p>\n That apart, Stoke City<\/a> were the only Premier League side who showed any real interest and, if you remember their tactics under Tony Pulis\u2019 management, it always seemed strange to imagine a player with Owen\u2019s size and skill set in their forward line. Owen had doubts himself. But he signed for them anyway because the alternative would have meant his absence from football going beyond six months \u2014 which is exactly what is happening with Lingard now.<\/p>\n \u201cMy God, the whole episode was so empty,\u201d Owen added. \u201cWhen I first signed for Liverpool<\/a>, I literally couldn\u2019t write my name quickly enough. The same applied at Real Madrid<\/a> and, for that matter, Manchester United. I must admit that when I signed (for Stoke), I did so with absolutely no joy. It was just a job and I signed only because I thought it was the right thing to do at the time. What else could I do?\u201d<\/p>\n That seems like a question Lingard must have asked himself many times since he started pitching up at a sports centre in Newton Heath \u2014 the area of north Manchester where United were founded \u2014 to go through his drills, work up a sweat and then upload the pictures to his social-media channels with snappy phrases such as \u201ckeep pushing\u201d or \u201cpositivity and progress\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cEven the hardest days will eventually pass,\u201d read one recent post. \u201cWe only do positive.\u201d<\/p>\n The intention, presumably, is to show potential employers how hard he is working, how devoted he remains to the sport, whatever anyone might say, and how he is ready for a new challenge. His ambition, it seems, is to find a team in the U.S. \u201cMotivation, hunger and love for the game,\u201d read another recent post.<\/p>\n Unfortunately for Lingard, the new MLS season does not start until February. Nothing has been fixed up and, over the last six months, the football industry is hard-faced and cynical enough for many people to question his priorities. Why, they want to know, is somebody with his ability out of work? Does he not care? Does this not hurt his professional pride? Because nobody wants to be a non-footballing footballer, surely?<\/p>\n The questions are understandable because, however it is dressed up, there is nothing orthodox about a footballer spending half a year, or possibly longer, out of the game.<\/p>\n But there is some context here and, if anything, the nature of modern-day football makes it likely we will see more of this happening in the future.<\/p>\n Here, we have a man of extraordinary wealth who is in a position where he does not have to rush into what he does next.<\/p>\n It is not about a shortage of offers, according to people with knowledge of the situation who will remain anonymous to protect their positions, or that Lingard holds any arrogant assumptions about the level he should be playing. It is more about waiting for the deal that suits him best, rather than feeling compelled or pressured to accept whatever comes his way.<\/p>\n That, after all, is exactly what Owen did with Stoke and look how that turned out. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Owen did not fit into Pulis\u2019 big-man-at-the-far-post methodology, sitting on the bench while Peter Crouch and Jonathan Walters started in attack.<\/p>\n In a moment of tragicomedy, one training session ended with one of the senior pros holding court in the dressing room and asking with a mix of humour and seriousness: \u201cWhat the hell is Michael Owen even doing in here?\u201d<\/p>\n Owen, who was asking himself the same question, retired at the end of the season after making no league starts, but had offered to hand in his notice on at least one occasion during the preceding months.<\/p>\n Against that kind of backdrop, maybe Lingard is entitled to be picky. It would be a lot harder, perhaps, if the interest had dried up. But the phone is still ringing and, as long as that is the case, the attitude seems to be: why rush?<\/p>\n Lingard had previously spent several weeks training with Al Ettifaq<\/a>, the Saudi Pro League club where Steven Gerrard is the manager and the players include Jordan Henderson<\/a>, Moussa Dembele and Georginio Wijnaldum.<\/p>\n Before that, Lingard had a similar arrangement at West Ham and even turned out for David Moyes\u2019 team in a behind-closed-doors game against Ipswich<\/a>. Many people wondered whether it might lead to something more substantial and Lingard having the chance to mend his relationship with the club\u2019s supporters, who were aggrieved by his decision to pick Forest ahead of them a year earlier. But nothing more came of it<\/a> and all the talk about Saudi Arabia fizzled out, too<\/p>\n Wolves<\/a> toyed with the idea of moving for him. Other clubs in the Premier League discussed his availability, along with one from Italy. Nothing, though, has worked out and it is\u00a0worth remembering that Lingard, despite everything, will not come cheap. Forest were paying a basic weekly salary of \u00a3115,000<\/a> ($147,000), plus some eye-watering bonuses, which led to some issues between the player\u2019s camp and the club\u2019s owners.<\/p>\n Lingard is not blameless and you have to wonder whether, on reflection, he recognises it was a mistake not to rejoin West Ham last season, especially as it meant him not being part of their Europa Conference League triumph, the club\u2019s first major trophy for 43 years.<\/p>\n Other offers were proposed by Newcastle United<\/a> and Fulham<\/a>, with four-year deals under discussion. Instead, Lingard signed a one-year contract with Forest, where he started only 14 games, rather than accepting the club\u2019s offer of a two-year arrangement.<\/p>\n Maybe that was an error, too, but he and his advisers thought he would be in a stronger position if he played well for a year, which he did not, and became available on a free transfer.<\/p>\n With that in mind, it becomes easier to understand why Lingard wants to make sure his next choice is the right one.<\/p>\n
\n Jesse Lingard celebrates his winner in the 2016 FA Cup final (Shaun Botterill\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/cdn.theathletic.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/12\/14095625\/GettyImages-152570037-scaled.jpg\")
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\n Michael Owen and Stoke City, managed by Tony Pulis, were an unhappy marriage (Clive Rose\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n
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\n Jesse Lingard started the 2018 World Cup semi-final for England against Croatia (Clive Rose\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/cdn.theathletic.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/12\/14095353\/GettyImages-1433630465-scaled.jpg\")
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\n Jesse Lingard had a disappointing spell at Nottingham Forest (Shaun Botterill\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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