Jesse Lingard has opened up about the ‘emotional’ moment he was left out of England’s Euro 2020 squad by manager Gareth Southgate and talked about where his club future may lie.
The 28-year-old enjoyed a stellar six months leading up to the tournament as his form helped West Ham to Europa League qualification in the Premier League in a successful loan from Manchester United.
Lingard scored nine goals and registered five assists in 16 Premier League appearances for the Hammers, which convinced Southgate to name him in England’s preliminary squad for the Euros.
The United midfielder even featured in both of England's warm-up friendlies against Romania and Austria leading up to the tournament — but was ultimately cut from the final 26-man squad.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Lingard revealed the snub by Gareth Southgate was "emotional" for the player, but harbours no ill feelings over the decision.
"Yeah, it was emotional, like I say, you work so hard," he said. "From November I wasn’t even part of the squad and it’s just the hard work you put in during them months to get there. Of course you’re emotional, you’re sad and you’re down, but you've got to respect the manager’s decisions and I did that."
Lingard went on to describe how his relationship with the England manager has not been tarnished and asserted his focus is now on the season ahead. He wants to secure himself a future in which he is getting regular game-time.
"Obviously, me and Gareth have a great relationship," Lingard added. "For me now it’s about supporting the boys, like I say and obviously working towards getting fit and ready to go back to pre-season.
"Regular football is the most important thing for me.
"After going on loan and getting a good run in the team, you started to see the real me, with the goals and the assists.
"I've never doubted my ability, I've always believed in myself. I spoke to the manager [Ole Gunnar Solskjaer] in pre-season and said, 'I need game time'. He said, 'we can discuss it December time', and we spoke again and he agreed to let me go on loan.
"I had various conversations with him during my time at West Ham. He was very supportive and it was a great loan for me."
