Nottingham Forest midfielder Jesse Lingard is expected to leave The City Ground at the end of the season, according to reports.
The Lowdown: Underwhelming impact
The Premier League veteran put pen to paper on an initial one-year contract in the Midlands in July 2022 after becoming a free agent following his departure from Manchester United.
However, the 30-year-old has failed to make a significant impact under Steve Cooper when given the chance to play, form which has seen him record just two appearances in the last seven top-flight games.
The Reds could reportedly sanction a mass exodus should they be relegated at the end of the season, and it sounds like the boss already has an idea of one of those players who he is keen to get rid of.
The Latest: Lingard to leave?
According to Football Insider, Forest are ‘not willing’ to table Lingard a new deal and are set to ‘part ways’ with him upon the conclusion of the 2022/23 campaign.
Cooper views the whole transfer as a ‘failure’ and has already ‘informed’ Evangelos Marinakis and the rest of the hierarchy that it would be best if he was moved on.
The Welshman ‘no longer considers’ the Reds star as part of his long-term plans and his exit would free up wages considering he currently earns approximately £200k-per-week (The Guardian).
The Verdict: Correct decision
Lingard is definitely a player whose ability should speak for itself on the pitch but that’s just not happened since moving to Forest, so they would be making the right decision by letting him go.
England’s former international has only scored two goals and provided the same number of assists all season, as he ranks in just the 13th percentile for most shot-creating actions and the 3rd for total number of shots per 90 minutes (FBRef).
The Warrington-born talent is statistically Cooper’s 29th best-performing player out of 33 squad members, showing how little of an impact he’s been able to make compared to his fellow teammates.
Football Insider have since claimed that the Nike-sponsored ace is being monitored by several Saudi Arabian and Major League Soccer clubs, who have been alerted to his potential availability.
It’s understood that his high wage demands wouldn’t be an issue for teams in those divisions, especially Saudi Arabia, so it appears that Asia could be his most likely destination should he wave goodbye to Forest at the end of the season.