JESSE LINGARD is now in his 30s and plying his trade in Brazil but Oscar Garcia’s Brighton gave the player invaluable experience in the second tier of English football before he became a Manchester United and England regular.
Lingard scored four times in 17 appearances in 2014 as the Seagulls reached the divisional play-off semi-finals which Derby County – Lingard’s next loan club – won over two legs.
He didn’t make as spectacular a debut for Brighton as he did for Birmingham earlier that (2013-14) season when he scored four times in a 4-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday.
But he did earn a controversial penalty at The New Den, when he was adjudged to have been fouled by Danny Shittu. Albion beat Millwall 1-0, Spaniard David Lopez scoring from the resultant spot kick. “It is shoulder to shoulder, if anything,” Millwall boss Ian Holloway later claimed. “I can’t say that there wasn’t enough contact because Danny is built like a proverbial.”
Lingard’s first goal for the Albion came in a dramatic 4-1 win at already-promoted Leicester City when he headed Stephen Ward’s cross past Kasper Schmeichel.
Having been on loan with the Foxes the previous season, he’d been getting a bit of stick from their supporters so he said: “I had to silence them a bit with my celebration. The goal had been coming and I was obviously pleased to score, especially with it being a header as well.”
Asked why he’d plumped for the loan at Brighton when other clubs were after him, Lingard told the matchday programme: “It’s a club that shares my philosophy on football and it’s very similar to how we play at United, so it was a move that suited me.”
For his part, Garcia described Lingard as “one of the most exciting young English strikers” and “a talent who has already shown he can play at Championship level”.
An extended feature on Lingard’s development appeared in the matchday programme for Albion’s game at Old Trafford in November 2017.
One of the coaches involved in his development, academy advisor Tony Whelan, said: “Jesse has had to be patient throughout his career. As a younger player, he was physically under-developed so he had to play a younger age group.
“That wasn’t easy, but he had the patience, intelligence and trust in the coaching staff to know that those decisions were made in his best interests, that we knew at some point he was going to grow. At some point, all that ability would be able to come out.
“He’s got a wonderful mindset, so his ability to come on and make an impact on the game is down to the fact he’s resilient, he has a wonderful mentality, and he is a great observer of the game. That comes out all the time in the way he deals with things. And on top of that, he has his excellent technical ability.”
Whelan added: “He’s only of slight build, so he’s developed great technical ability, good passing, dribbling, he’s a really good mover – very fluid, a wonderful mover – and he’s athletic without looking that athletic.”
The coach said: “You don’t get in our first-team squad without being a very accomplished player. He’s also playing for the national team fairly regularly. That’s testimony to Jesse’s abilities as an all-round footballer now.”
Coach Whelan summed up Lingard thus: “From the day he first walked into this football club at seven years of age, he always had a smile on his face. He’s always loved playing, always loved the game, always had wonderful enthusiasm, and in some ways he’s inspired the coaches with his love of the game and love of the ball.
“You never had to ask him to work hard, he was always running around, always energetic, always mischievous, and those are the qualities he brought.”
Having featured for England’s under 17s and under 21s, Lingard made his full England debut in October 2016 in a 2-0 win over Malta, he started five of England’s seven matches at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and over the course of five years won 32 caps for his country.
He scored England’s first and third goals on his penultimate appearance, in a World Cup qualifying 4-0 win over Andorra in September 2021, and his last game for England was against the same country the following month in a 5-0 away win.
In an interview with the Albion matchday programme for Brighton’s home game with United in 2017-18, Lingard reflected on his loan spell with the Seagulls and said: “I wanted to go to the club because I knew they were a good club with a great stadium and great fans – it was the perfect club to go on loan to.”
He added: “The stadium, the staff, the fans, you could see the ambition of the club. I always knew that the club would make it into the Premier League. It was heading in that direction for a couple of seasons.”
Lingard went on as a sub (for Marouane Fellaini) in the 2017-18 season finale when Albion beat United 1-0 courtesy of a 58th-minute Pascal Gross goal. And he was a half-time replacement for Juan Mata when the following season began with the identical fixture, on that occasion the Seagulls once again the winners, 3-2, with Gross on the scoresheet from a penalty adding to goals from Glenn Murray and Shane Duffy; Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba (penalty) for United.
Although Lingard broke into the United first team under Louis Van Gaal and was a regular during Jose Mourinho’s reign, he fell out of favour with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and spent half the 2021-22 season on loan at West Ham.
He had an injury-wracked 2022-23 season at newly-promoted Nottingham Forest making 14 starts and six sub appearances under Steve Cooper and was one of five players released at the end of the campaign.
That spelled the end of his time in English football. He spent a month in the autumn training with Saudi Pro League side El-Attifaq, managed by Steven Gerrard at the time, and he played in a friendly and scored against Al Khaldiya, but a foreign player restriction meant he wasn’t eligible to play competitively and the following February he ventured to South Korea to play for FC Seoul in the country’s capital.
His home debut attracted a crowd of 51,670 – setting a new K League attendance record – and having not played competitively for eight months he struggled at the start. His coach Kim Gi-Dong even publicly criticised him for “a lack of effort and physicality”.
In an interview with BBC Sport’s Sami Mokbel, Lingard spoke of coming to terms with playing in the humidity and dealing with a meniscus injury, and he said: “The tempo is high out here, the games are intense. At the start, I wasn’t fit, but once I found the rhythm I got used to it.”
Lingard said the move to the Far East had enabled him to enjoy his football again. “I’m out here to find peace. Happiness is peace at the end of the day. If you can find that, it doesn’t matter where you are.
He told Mokbel: “I’m still playing football and I’m enjoying myself. I still have many years of playing football ahead of me – I’m 32 but the stats don’t show that I’m 32.
“I can play for a long time. It has 100 per cent been the right choice. It was a fresh start, to get my happiness back playing football, that was the main thing.
“It’s been an amazing experience. Different cultures, the people are amazing, the city is amazing.
“I feel I’ve come on leaps and bounds mentally. I think the move has improved my outlook on life.”
Indeed, Lingard went on to establish himself as a key player for FC Seoul – making 66 appearances and contributing 18 goals – and was eventually made captain.
When he decided to call it a day in December 2025, he wrote on Instagram: “My time in South Korea has been unbelievable – the football, the atmosphere and the passion around this club have been top class.
“The love, support and the appreciation you have shown towards me for these last two years has been truly amazing. I’ll always be grateful for the opportunity to play for such a massive club.”
FC Seoul said in a statement: “He generated an extraordinary level of public attention and emerged as a symbolic figure not only for the club but for the entire K League.”
In March 2026, he pitched up at top Brazilian league side SC Corinthians Paulista, where he has been playing since.
Preparing in Brazil
