Jesse Lingard now finds himself playing out in Asia in the hope of re-finding himself, and he’s recently been speaking about exactly why things didn’t work out at Nottingham Forest.
Nottingham Forest took the leap to sign Jesse Lingard as a free agent after his contract expired at Manchester United.
They hoped they might get the Lingard who lit up the London Stadium during his time at West Ham United, but it couldn’t have been more different.
The Englishman played 20 times for Nottingham Forest, scoring just twice and assisting twice, which wasn’t worth the huge wage and bonuses he was on.
And, Lingard has already had issues at his new club as he was called lazy by his new boss.
Interestingly, the midfielder has now spoken out on his time at Forest, giving a potential reason as to why things didn’t work out.
Jesse Lingard speaks out on his time at Nottingham Forest
Lingard, who was on £80,000 per week at Nottingham Forest, even offered himself to Barcelona after his departure, but they didn’t want him.
His attitude was called into question a number of times during his time at Forest, and he’s now spoken out on why he feels things didn’t pan out.
Speaking to The Times, Lingard said his high bonuses at the time was a reason he wasn’t played as Forest were at risk of PSR.
“Let’s start with my last stint in the Premier League, with Nottingham Forest. I loved the club and their supporters, but when I joined after their promotion in 2022 it was on a one-year contract where the appearance bonuses were high.
“Forest ended up with worries about the league’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) and, as the season wore on, a need to limit spending and those bonuses may have been why I didn’t get on the pitch in certain games.
“But I also had a difficult time physically. For pretty much the entire season I suffered severe tendinitis in my knees and achilles. Sometimes I played in pain and other times I was just too sore to play at all.
“The issues affected my decelerations — when maybe you sprint past an opponent, or into space, and then stop and turn — which is a big part of my game.”
Jesse Lingard’s time at the City Ground
Interestingly, the £80k wage quoted above for Lingard was just the base salary, with bonuses potentially taking it to £120k, so you can see why Nottingham Forest may have been hesitant to play him at times.
Lingard was a big character behind the scenes at Nottingham Forest, with Taiwo Awoniyi speaking about how much he missed him after he left.
But you can’t keep players based on relationships, and a combination of a lack of contributions, high bonuses and a big wage meant it was better for the club to part ways.
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