Jesse Lingard's future at Manchester United is far from secure with Ralph Rangnick understood to be open to the England internationals departure.
Lingard had a superb loan spell at West Ham last season and the club have made no secret of their desire for him to return to east London. That interest remains, despite Manchester United's reluctance to strengthen a direct top-four rival.
The England international is in high demand, Newcastle United were close to agreeing a deal for the 29-year-old but have not finalised a move due to Manchester United's pricing for the nouveau riche club. As a result, Leicester, Everton and Aston Villa are all understood to be considering a move, whilst it is understood that Spurs, like West Ham, have had their loan approach rejected.
With Lingard in demand, former Manchester United defender Paul Parker believes that a move away from Old Trafford is essential if the England international wants to avoid wasting the prime years of his career - just as his teammate Anthony Martial has done after agreeing a short-term deal with Sevilla.
"[Anthony] Martial needed to [leave] for himself if he had any pride in himself. Lingard’s got to do exactly the same. It’s a complete waste what he’s doing now," Parker told BetfredTV.
"He must be bringing that on himself because after he went to West Ham - and I live in the West Ham area - they absolutely loved him for what he did for that club. David Moyes has done a really good job and when he signed Jesse it gave them that little bit more. He got so many things going. Him being a Man United player, the way they took to him was unbelievable, because there were a few waiting for him to be a 'big-time Charlie' and stroll around. He gave them everything."
Lingard was told he would be in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's plans at the start of the season but after the signings of Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo, the former Hammer fell further down the pecking order. With the recent emergence of Anthony Elanga in the first-team picture, Lingard is seeing even less time under Solskjaer's replacement Rangnick, and Parker believes last summer was the right time for Lingard to call it a day at Old Trafford.
"[After the loan move] was the time for him to say: 'I really enjoyed myself there, I need to play regular football'. And he never said that. He was more content in getting back to Manchester United.
"The next thing you see, he gets back to Manchester United and has the picture done for Instagram with Cristiano Ronaldo. That’s not the right thing to do."
