Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has revealed that Jesse Lingard ruled himself out of tonight’s Premier League opener against Leicester City.
Lingard only returned to club duty on Monday after an extended break following international duty with England this summer at the World Cup. The 25-year-old was part of manager Gareth Southgate’s final squad which managed to reach the semifinals in Russia, ultimately losing out to Croatia after extra-time.
Lingard impressed with his performances and scored arguably one of the best goals of the entire competition in the group stage against Panama, expertly curling the ball home from outside the box during England’s 6-1 victory.
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Manchester United kick off the new Premier League season tonight in the curtain raiser against Claude Puel’s Leicester side and according to The Daily Star, Mourinho didn’t consider Lingard for selection because he ruled himself out of proceedings.
Speaking to reporters pre-match the Portuguese boss said: “The players involved in the World Cup semi-finals started training on Monday and some of them are involved today to help the team.
“Nemanja Matic is unavailable, Jesse Lingard doesn’t feel he is in a position to help us but Romelu Lukaku can give us a hand from the bench.
The English midfielder is a product of United’s youth system and has been part of the senior squad since 2011, making 84 appearances in total. He has risen to prominence over the last couple of years under Mourinho and supporters will hope he can return quickly in order to help the team get off to the best possible start in the league.