Two hours after Boris Johnson addressed allegations surrounding the breach of lockdown restrictions on Monday afternoon, sources at Manchester United claimed their original plan was for Jesse Lingard to stay at the club for the remainder of the season.
It was difficult to believe the Prime Minister. It was also hard to believe United.
Lingard has started two games for United this season and it was understood throughout the whole of January that the player was keen to leave the club on loan in search of regular game time. Lingard didn't get what he wanted. His proposed loan exit was blocked. That decision from United is questionable.
West Ham were interested in Lingard, but United obviously weren't going to strengthen a Champions League rival. Newcastle was an appropriate destination and the North East club opened talks to sign Lingard on loan in mid-January. While United demanded a hefty relegation survival bonus from Newcastle and talks stuttered, dialogue crucially remained open and the deal wasn't dead.
As deadline day arrived, Newcastle reignited their interest in Lingard. It's thought Newcastle had improved their offer, United had lowered their demands and a compromise could potentially have been met. That was until the deal collapsed just before 6pm.
Lingard will now surely leave United on a free transfer upon the expiration of his contract in the summer. United have squandered their only chance of receiving a fee for the player and their decision to block the move has already been heavily criticised.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made false promises to Lingard in the summer and the player was subsequently let down. Solskjaer's persistent snubbing of Lingard didn't make sense - especially when considering his strong cameos and United's poor collective performances - and it's not a surprise that it perplexed the player and his teammates. He couldn't catch a break. It was impossible for him to win.
Just like Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick has been highly complimentary of Lingard, but the midfielder's situation hasn't improved following Rangnick's interim appointment in November. It seemed to perfectly suit all parties to sanction a loan exit for Lingard this January.
Yet despite Rangnick's personal blessing, Lingard's proposed loan move to relegation candidates Newcastle was blocked on Monday night. That decision was made by the board at United, not Rangnick, and that leaves difficult questions for the German to answer.
Lingard has yet to surpass 300 minutes on the pitch this season and Rangnick's giving Lingard the green light to leave suggested he understood his desire for more game time. The World Cup is 11 months away and Lingard simply needs to play football.
The decision to block the transfer is interesting for two reasons. That's because supporters will want to know who in particular made the decision and they'll also want to know the exact rationale behind preventing Lingard's exit.
Rangnick didn't block the move but he'll be the one that answers those questions on Lingard, which are bound to be asked at his pre-match press conference before this week's FA Cup fourth round fixture against Middlesbrough on Friday night.
Perhaps some logic can be found in the size of United's squad. Rangnick's squad was inflated and too big before January and, after Anthony Martial, Amad and Donny van de Beek left the club, the Reds have been left with 25 players. That includes Tom Heaton, who is third-choice goalkeeper and, it's worth noting, Premier League rules outline only a 25-man squad can be registered to play.
With Lingard still at the club, Rangnick has Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Anthony Elanga and Lingard at his disposal, however, United play three in attack, so could they have gone without Lingard for the rest of the season?
That's the conversation that was likely to have been had in United's board room. In a season that has been ravaged with Covid-19, United always wanted a bigger squad, but it seems Lingard has been at the wrong end of that decision once again.
Lingard has been an excellent servant for United and he'll feel he deserves better than that.
