For the second summer in a row, former Newcastle United transfer target Jesse Lingard is a free agent.
The midfielder was heavily linked with a move to Tyneside after the Saudi-backed takeover in October 2021, and was earmarked as one of the first players who were going to sign for Newcastle after PIF bought the club.
That did not happen in January 2022, with Manchester United pricing him out of a move.
Fast forward to that summer and it was Lingard who priced himself out of a move to St James’ Park. He was no longer going to be under contract at Old Trafford, meaning the Magpies were free to swoop in and sign a player who Eddie Howe had chased for months.
However, money was the issue again. Lingard reportedly wanted wages totalling £200,000-a-week to sign for Newcastle. Unsurprisingly, the Toon decision makers said no and took their business elsewhere.
The England international did eventually get a Premier League move, signing a one-year deal with newly promoted Nottingham Forest. But while it was a season to remember for Steve Cooper’s side, Lingard failed to deliver at the City Ground.
He made just 17 Premier League appearances for Forest, and has now left the club. He is once again a free agent, and is weighing up his options ahead of his next move.
Jesse Lingard refuses to rule out Saudi Arabia move
Plenty of major names have joined clubs in Saudi Arabia this summer, which comes after PIF invested in four clubs that compete in the Saudi Pro League.
The likes of Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, Hakim Ziyech and Edouard Mendy are all taking their talents to the Middle East, and Lingard has not ruled out joining them in an interview with Sky Sports.
“Saudi Arabia are doing big things,” he said.
“In the next year or so, the next couple of years, it will be one of the hot spots to go to. I’m not really surprised big names are moving out there, they’re doing big things.
“It’s something I’m obviously going to consider as well, I’ve not ruled that out either. It’s just got to be right for me at the end of the day.”
It is somewhat ironic that after failing to secure a move to Newcastle in two consecutive transfer windows, Lingard is now casting admiring glances at Saudi Arabia, where he would likely join a different team owned by PIF.
Wherever he does go, Lingard might wonder ‘what might have been’ as he looks at what the Magpies have achieved since the change of ownership. It has been an incredible journey so far, and one that Lingard looked destined to be a part of at one point in time.
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