Jesse Lingard to leave Manchester United after two decades at club

Manchester United have announced that Jesse Lingard will leave the Premier League club when his contract expires at the end of June.

The 29-year-old followed Paul Pogba towards the exit at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Lingard scored 35 goals in 232 appearances for the Red Devils, who he joined at the age of seven. However, he has been frustrated by a lack of playing time in recent years and saw a January exit blocked.

United thanked the England international for his services to the club.

"An Academy graduate and dyed-in-the-wool Red, Jesse has been with United for over 20 years, having originally joined our Under-9s team in 2001," the club said in a statement.

"We'd like to take this opportunity to thank Jesse for all of the memories he's helped create during his two decades here and wish him the best of luck in his future career."

Lingard's tenure at United come to a bitter end. Former interim manager Ralf Rangnick had to defend himself after claims he was wrong to deny Lingard the chance to say farewell to Old Trafford.

It was all a dream...❤ @JesseLingard#MUFC pic.twitter.com/WVw21VuXUO

The United midfielder was unable to say goodbye to fans after Rangnick left him on the bench for the club's last home game of the season.

Lingard remained an unused substitute for their 3-0 win against Brentford. That prompted Lingard's brother Louie Scott to hit out at Rangnick on social media, pointing to the 29-year-old's two decades of service.

Rangnick insisted his decision not to select the England midfielder against Brentford was nothing personal.

"To start with, in the last couple of weeks under my tenure he has played far more games than he used to," Rangnick had said.

"Secondly, on game day against Chelsea, he asked me to