Lingard hit the headlines last month when he hit back at criticism of himself, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford, from a United fan on social media
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Jesse Lingard and Paul Pogba pictured celebrating at Old Trafford
Jesse Lingard and Paul Pogba pictured celebrating at Old Trafford(Image: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Former Manchester United star Jesse Lingard has doubled down on his belief that himself, Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba only tried to make the culture at the club stronger, rather than ruining it.
Lingard, who now plays for South Korean side FC Seoul, hit back at a tweet from a United fan earlier this year which claimed the trio destroyed the culture at Old Trafford during their time at the club.
The England international bit back at the fan, asking them to explain how they destroyed the culture at the club, before saying: "We was just enjoying our life. We played for biggest club in the world, of course we made mistakes and we learn, but we [are] gonna have fun and smile and dance."
And now in an interview with the Mail Online, Lingard has doubled down on that response and gone further to explain why he believes the fan got it wrong.
"I don't even really go on there [social media platform X] anymore but I did see that and just asked the guy to explain it,’ he told the Mail Online.
"We actually got some nice responses from other people. I love Paul to bits. He's one of my best friends. We speak every day.
"But I was thinking: 'What was the culture, anyway?'
"With us being in the first team, you know, it's obviously knowing the right place, the right time to do things and stuff like that.
"But ruining culture? We only tried to make it stronger. We responded to success and we smiled and laughed and we were winning games. So that is good culture, yeah?
"Wayne Rooney told me: 'Don't buy your first car until you’ve played 50 games.' Obviously 50 games came and I drove in a Range Rover, parked up and Rooney is like: 'Whose is that? Have you played 50 games now?'
"And that was me accepted. I have never tried to be flash. Of course, if you have nice things sometimes you want to show them. But the photographers would follow me and take pictures of me in my car every time we drove in.
"But I'm not posting that or putting it on the Daily Mail am I?"
The 32-year-old was a United academy graduate and after loan spells with Leicester, Birmingham, Brighton and Derby, he established himself in the first team under Louis van Gaal in the 2015/16 season.
He scored the winning goal in the FA Cup final at the end of that season and won four major trophies during his time at United. He made 232 appearances for the club and also won 32 England caps, helping his country reach the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.
He left the club in 2022, following a brief loan spell away at West Ham in 2021, and signed for Nottingham Forest on a free transfer.
Lingard left the East Midlands after just one season and now plays in the K-League for FC Seoul.
You can read Lingard's full interview discussing his time at Manchester United, the current United side and his new adventure in the Far East here.