"Does he want to play football or not?" - Paul Merson slams Manchester United outcast for his failure to seal Old Trafford exit

Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has criticized Manchester United star Jesse Lingard for his reluctance to leave the club. The Englishman has been a bit-part player for the Red Devils this season but is reportedly still keen to establish himself at the club.

Merson has urged the midfielder to leave Manchester United as soon as possible or risk wasting the prime of his career at the club. He wrote in his column at the Daily Star:

"Jesse Lingard needs to force his way out of Manchester United in this transfer window. Does he want to play football or not? He's not a kid anymore. If he waits and tries to move on a free in the summer, he'll probably get offered more money. But your career soon disappears. If he sits on the bench at Old Trafford for the rest of the season, people are going to start to forget about him and he's wasting what time he has left."

Lingard has not yet started a Premier League game for United this season and has only made 14 appearances across all competitions. The Englishman has only seen six minutes of football under Ralf Rangnick and has been linked with a move to West Ham United and Newcastle United. It remains to be seen whether the midfielder will leave the club before the transfer window shuts.

"He made a mistake" - Merson on Lingard's decision to stay at Manchester United

Lingard in action for Manchester United

Merson also believes Lingard should have joined West Ham when he had the chance. The Hammers tried to sign the midfielder last summer after he had a successful spell on loan at the club during the second half of the 2021-22 season. He scored nine goals and gave five assists in 16 Premier League appearances for the Hammers. Some of his goals were downright brilliant and full of skill. Merson said:

"He had an unbelievable chance to sign for West Ham and he should have taken it. Maybe he thought he could do better. Maybe he really thought he could go back to United and he'd get in that team every week. But even a blind man could see that was never going to happen. He knows now it's not going to happen for him at United, surely. He made a mistake going back there and there is no point hanging around there anymore. I like him. I think he's a good player. But he should have gone to West Ham when he had the chance. He's probably thinking he can't go to Newcastle in case he ends up playing in the Championship. But he needs to be playing football."

Lingard made his senior team debut for Manchester United in 2011. After four loan spells with Leicester City, Birmingham City, Brighton and Derby County, he has made 224 appearances across all competitions for the club till date.

However, considering the fact that he hasn't been loaned out since the 2015-16 season, the number of appearances made are considerably less. The England international was also not picked for the national team at Euro 2020 last summer, where the Three Lions finished runners-up to Italy.

It is imperative that Lingard join another club to further advance what's left of his career.