Jesse Lingard has hit back at Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick for claiming he requested time off to ‘clear his mind’ and says he is ready to play despite his transfer disappointment.
The 29-year-old – who has not started any Premier League match this campaign – had offers from Newcastle and West Ham on deadline day but United blocked a move.
Lingard is believed to be extremely disappointed by the decision and Rangnick confirmed at a press conference on Thursday that the attacker would not be involved in Friday’s FA Cup tie against Middlesbrough.
‘He asked me and the club if we could give him a couple of days off just to clear up his mind,’ said the interim United boss.
‘He will be back in the group, I suppose, next Monday, back for training and then be a regular part of the whole squad again.’
But Lingard has taken to social media to give his own version of events, revealing it was the Red devils who suggested he take time off and saying that he will continue to give his all for the club.
Writing on Twitter on Thursday, Lingard posted: ‘The club advised me to have time off due to personal reasons!
‘But my headspace is clear and I’ll always be professional when called upon and give 100 per cent.’
The mixed messages between Rangnick and Lingard are similar to the confusion which surrounded Anthony Martial’s absence from last month’s FA Cup game against Aston Villa.
After that game, which Martial was absent from despite being fit, Rangnick claimed he had requested not to play only for the striker to dispute his manager’s comments on social media a few hours later.
Rangnick also confirmed that part of United’s reason for keeping Lingard was due to Mason Greenwood’s arrest and suspension, saying: ‘Three weeks ago Jesse didn’t want to leave and then he changed his mind.
‘I said at the time, if he finds a club and a solution that suits us, we would allow him to leave. With the developments in the last couple of days, things changed.
‘On Monday afternoon, the board said they wanted him to stay. We are without a player who has played regularly and also we couldn’t get an agreement for any other club.’
