Jesse Lingard’s potential arrival on Tyneside could give Eddie Howe’s squad the morale boost it desperately needs to stay the Premier League.
The Manchester Utd midfielder is linked with a move to Newcastle before the January 31 deadline, with former club West Ham also vying for his signature.
The 29-year-old has not started a top-flight game for the Red Devils this season and, with six months remaining on his contract, Lingard’s days at Old Trafford appear numbered.
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In a sport where cliched interview responses and scripted, media-trained personalities are the norm, Lingard’s fun-loving character would provide a secret weapon to Newcastle if they can persuade him to sign the dotted line.
That is, if Jose Mourinho’s comments in 2018 are anything to go by…
After spending years as a squad player, Lingard’s career took off under the Portuguese boss in 2017/18 when he bagged a career-best 13 goals in all competitions to cement himself as a Man Utd regular.
This purple patch helped Lingard break into the England team as he became a staple of the side that reached the World Cup semi-final in 2018.
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Speaking to the Daily Mail that year, Mourinho said: "He (Lingard) is a naughty but funny guy.
“He is the funny one that doesn’t disturb the class. He is the funny one that the teacher isn’t upset with.
“He is the one that makes things work and in the right moment he is positive.
“He makes everyone in the class laugh and creates a good atmosphere that we always want. I was also a school teacher and I know what it means.
“We like funny people that make everyone happier. We don’t like the naughty ones who disturb everyone as they learn.”
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