Lingard resurrected his career with West Ham after a sour end at Manchester United, but his move to Nottingham Forest was a huge disappointment
Jesse Lingard's career has been marked by bad decisions and joining Nottingham Forest looks like one of his worst.
Not helped by a series of niggling injuries, he soon fell way down the pecking order for Steve Cooper and only started one match in 2023, the miserable 3-1 defeat at Tottenham when he was hauled off at half-time.
Forest made an expensive bet on Lingard in their bid to ensure they avoided relegation back to the Championship, buying a big-name player with years of experience in the Premier League and who only one year previously had enjoyed an explosive return to form with West Ham.
But ten months later, Lingard departs as a peripheral figure. His Premier League career, despite being only 30, appears to be coming to an end.
Forest, meanwhile, managed to stave of the threat of Premier League relegation without their marquee signing playing even a minor role.
Getty ImagesSolskjaer refuses to let Lingard go and everyone loses
To be fair to Lingard, his current predicament is not all his own making.
After falling out of favour at United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the 2020/21 season, he resurrected his career on loan at West Ham.
In 16 appearances for David Moyes' side he scored a stunning nine goals and added five assists to help the Hammers finish sixth in the Premier League while achieving their highest-ever points total.
West Ham wanted to make the move permanent but Moyes revealed that Solskjaer was determined to keep the midfielder.
Lingard went back to Old Trafford and scored two goals in the first two months of the season, including the winner away to West Ham which he refused to celebrate. But he made only six Premier League appearances, all as a substitute, before Solskjaer was sacked in November.
He also featured little for interim manager Ralf Rangnick and was not offered a new contract, to the fury of his brother Louie Scott, who blasted the club for not allowing him a final appearance.
Everyone lost out from United's refusal to sell. The Red Devils made no money from Lingard's eventual departure and got barely any use out of him, while West Ham were deprived of a player who they valued highly and the midfielder effectively wasted a season.
AdvertisementGettyChoosing Forest over West Ham
Lingard's departure from Old Trafford as a free agent did give him the opportunity to return to West Ham.
But he surprisingly turned down a reunion with Moyes to head to newly-promoted Forest, who flew him and his entourage to Athens to meet owner Evangelos Marinakis in a bid to seduce him.
Lingard was also offered a lucrative contract by Forest. Initial reports suggested he would earn close to £200,000 a week although other reports claimed the figure was nearer to £120,000 including bonuses.
Either way, he immediately became one of the club's top earners.
West Ham fans also felt he had rejected them in the pursuit of more money, throwing fake bank notes at Lingard on his home debut for Forest against the Hammers.
Lingard saw it differently: "They showed me love, they were very aggressive with their approach," he said after his unveiling. "You love that, you want to see that love and they've showed intent for me to come to the club."
Getty ImagesStruggling to stand out among all the new faces
It is easy to say with hindsight, but West Ham would have been familiar to Lingard and given him some stability, even withstanding their troubles this season and their own battle against relegation.
But Forest was unknown territory for a number of reasons, primarily the fact they made 21 signings in the summer, completely overhauling their squad.
Lingard may have been one of their better-known arrivals, but all the new faces brought a sense of chaos and they won only one of their opening 10 Premier League games, losing seven.
Lingard appeared in 13 of Forest's 15 matches before the season paused for the World Cup, starting 10 games. He was on the winning side three times, against West Ham, Liverpool and Crystal Palace.
He also starred in the Carabao Cup wins over Tottenham and Blackburn either side of the tournament in Qatar, getting a goal and an assist in each game.
GettyBad luck with injuries but enough chances to prove himself
However, he had the misfortune to suffer a thigh injury in Forest's first league match after the World Cup, the 3-0 defeat at Manchester United.
He only played after that, starting the 3-1 defeat at Tottenham and coming off the bench in the 4-0 drubbing at West Ham, whose fans booed him when he was brought on.
Most recently, Lingard was an unused substitute against Everton and in a 2-0 surrender at Aston Villa.
He may have been unlucky with the injuries, but he has had more than enough opportunities to prove himself and has not done so.
In 17 Premier League appearances he registered no goals and assists and has averaged 0.2 shots on target per match – with his last action in a Forest shirt a humiliating two-minute cameo against Man Utd.