Ex-Man Utd star TOO EXPENSIVE for Saudi Pro League

28 Oct 2023 11:53 BST
3 min read

Jesse Lingard, Nottingham Forest, 2022/23 — © ProShots

Jesse Lingard’s hopes of signing for Al-Ettifaq are over as it has emerged that the Saudi Pro League cannot afford the former Manchester United attacker’s wage demands.

Lingard had been training with Steve Gerrard’s side for the past month, but they have elected not to sign the 30-year-old.

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The 32-time cap England international, who has also made more than 230 Man Utd appearances, has been a free agent since departing Nottingham Forest at the end of a one-year deal in the summer.

Having failed to find a club in Europe, Lingard had hoped to land a contract in the big-spending Saudi Pro League at a side that contains Jordan Henderson, Demarai Gray and Scotland international Jack Hendry.

Ben Jacobs explains that a deal was made ‘nearly impossible’ by the demands of the attacker.

“Jesse Lingard's one month training with Al-Ettifaq is over. Saudi club won't sign him. They can't now due to quotas and won't in January. Lingard's wages not within Ettifaq's budget. Even if they could proceed they'd need to first release two foreign players,” he stated on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Sources close to Ettifaq stress they enjoyed having Lingard, and he scored in a friendly. But they term signing him ‘near impossible’ due to finances and the fact there's no guarantee two foreign players will definitely exit in January. Club have other targets when window opens.”

© ProShots - Jesse Lingard in his Man Utd days

Al Ettifaq have found themselves in the headlines lately because of the poor crowds that they have played in front of.

Gerrard’s club was recently watched by just 696 when they suffered a 1-0 loss to Al-Riyadh away from home in the Saudi Pro League, although they did attract a crowd of nearly 14,000 as they defeated Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr on the opening day of the season.