Man United player was ‘seduced by idea’ of January move – Red Devils ‘blocked’ him from leaving

One of the stranger stories of the transfer was that of Jesse Lingard and a potential move to OGC Nice.

The Manchester United midfielder is out of favour at Old Trafford under Ralf Rangnick, and with less than six months left on his contract, this was the last time for the Red Devils to cash in.

Newcastle came forward, as did the Ligue 1 side, and while Lingard rejected the Premier League side, he was ‘seduced by the idea’ of playing in the south of France.

That’s according to Foot Mercato, who have a long piece about the deals that nearly happened towards the end of the transfer window, and they include the story about the Manchester United player.

It’s explained that despite Nice not exactly being short of money, the England international was ‘hard to reach’ for their finances, and the player was eventually ‘blocked’ from leaving by his current club.

Therefore, Lingard will now finish the season at Manchester United, with the likely outcome being him leaving his childhood club on a free come the end of the campaign.