Former Manchester United star training with Steven Gerrard's Al Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia - Reports

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, former Manchester United star Jesse Lingard has joined Steven Gerrard's Al-Ettifaq for a one-month training period.

Lingard rose through Manchester United's academy during his 10-year youth career, before making his senior debut under Sir Alex Ferguson in November 2011.

The 30-year-old attacking midfielder went on to make 232 appearances across all competitions, scoring 35 goals and providing 21 assists. He also won four major trophies with the club.

Unfortunately for Lingard, he was handed a bit-par role in his last few years at the club under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He had a successful six-month loan at West Ham United in the 2020-21 season, contributing nine goals and four assists in his first 10 Premier League games. However, he stayed at Old Trafford for another season despite interest from the Hammers for a permanent deal.

Lingard left Manchester United as a free agent last summer. The former England international joined Nottingham Forest on a one-year deal in search of regular football. However, he failed to impress, registering no goal contributions in 17 league appearances.

After being released by Nottingham this summer, Lingard's career has been in limbo as he is still in search of a club. Fabrizio Romano did have an important update as he tweeted:

"Jesse Lingard has joined Al Ettifaq on training valid for one month — as he’s still available as free agent. Up to Lingard and Ettifaq if they want to proceed together, Steven Gerrard will be key to decide too."

Al-Ettifaq have bolstered their squad this summer recruiting Gerrard as their manager as well as Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum, and Moussa Dembele. Lingard could potentially thrive in this new environment and get his career back on track.

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Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag gives verdict on Burnley ahead of PL clash

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag gave his verdict on Vincent Kompany's Burnley in a recent pre-match press conference ahead of their Premier League clash. The two sides are set to face each other at Turf Moor later today (September 23).

After losing their last three games in a row across competitions, this is a must-win clash for the Red Devils. They are currently 13th in the league table with six points from five games and simply cannot afford to fall behind any further from the top four.

Ten Hag said (via @UtdPlug):

"We know how intense they play football, we know their approach, I like the approach from them, the adventure, high intensity and dynamic in their game, so we have to play our best."

Burnley have also made a poor start to the season and are 19th in the standings with one point, having played four games.