'FC Seoul' Lingard: "I will bring joy to fans... Focusing on 3 points first"

"Dreams I Want to Achieve in Seoul"
"Lifting the Trophy and Winning Is the Goal"

Former England national team player Jesse Lingard (32) will don the FC Seoul professional football uniform. He expressed his ambition to lead the team to victory.

At the Seoul signing press conference held on the 8th at Seoul World Cup Stadium, Lingard said, "I am very excited and thrilled. This is a new challenge for me, and I came to Korea to embrace that challenge," adding, "This is a new chapter in my life, and I will do my best to bring joy and smiles to the fans in Korea and Seoul."

Jesse Lingard is expressing his thoughts on joining during the official FC Seoul signing press conference held on the afternoon of the 8th at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lingard joined the Manchester United youth team in 2000 and was loaned out to Leicester City, Birmingham City, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Derby County before establishing himself at his parent club Manchester United from the 2015-2016 season. However, in the 2021-2022 season, Lingard appeared in only 16 regular league matches and scored 2 goals for Manchester United, leaving the club after that season.

Afterwards, he spent the 2022-2023 season at EPL club Nottingham Forest and reportedly received offers from Europe and the Middle East but chose Korea. Having played for the England national team until 2021, including the 2018 Russia World Cup, he became the most high-profile player in the 41-year history of the K League.

Lingard explained, "At other clubs, negotiations were only verbal, but Seoul prepared everything in writing and even came to Manchester to check my physical condition, showing great passion," adding, "At that moment, I made up my mind and did not consider other clubs."

Regarding his physical condition, Lingard said, "The past eight months have been personally difficult, and I know many people are concerned since it has been a long time since I last played a match," and explained, "However, I knew I would sign with a team around January, so I trained twice daily with a personal trainer in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to improve my condition. I can get fully fit by the K League opening on March 1st."

He continued, "I have dreams I want to achieve at Seoul and want to get on the pitch quickly," emphasizing, "Lifting trophies and winning is the goal. While I have personal goals, my priority is to focus on the team earning 3 points and winning."