Rio Ferdinand says neither Jesse Lingard nor Donny van de Beek should be satisfied with the amount of football they are getting at Manchester United.
Both players made rare starts for United in their FA Cup tie against Watford, which was only Lingard's third appearance of the season.
Speaking pre-match on BT Sport, Ferdinand said it's time for Lingard to seriously consider leaving United in search of first-team football.
Ferdinand said: “Listen, I’ve known Jesse Lingard since he was a kid at this football club and he was an amazing talent when growing up.
"I always knew he’d be someone who was going to play football for this football club. It was just a matter of when because of his size and stuff which held him back a bit, but the club waited and he scored in FA Cup finals, and we’re here today saying this is his second start of the season, which is a big comedown from where he’s been.
"If I’m in his shoes, I’m, one, asking the manager what’s going on, and, two, if I’m not part of your plans, I’ve got to go. He’s 28 years old, so he’s not part of the plans, that’s been proven by how many times he’s been selected.
Ferdinand continued: "He’s 28 - he’s not a kid anymore - he wants to go and play football, surely.
"Sometimes you have to put the badge down because it means so much to local lads especially, but when you come to Manchester United, it’s a hard badge to put to the side and say you want to go somewhere else. For the sake of your career, to play games, that’s the number one thing. He’s not doing that, he can’t be happy."
Whilst Van de Beek has featured more often than Lingard since making the move from Ajax in the summer, the Dutch midfielder has not played regularly.
“I’m really surprised he’s not played more minutes," Ferdinand said of Van de Beek's situation. "I’m 100% certain that he expected to play more.
"The interesting point with the whole van de Beek situation is, what was the conversation in negotiations coming here? When you negotiate a contract to go somewhere, you come into the football club knowing where you are, if you’re going to start, or are they going to have to work their way into the team.
"That’s the important part and we don’t know the answer yet. I’m sure from the soundings that his agent has been given off, he expected to be playing games and be a major part of this team. It hasn’t materialised so far, and he’s got a Euros to worry about if that goes ahead."
