Manchester United told why 'great servant' Jesse Lingard deserved Old Trafford farewell

Manchester United's 'great servant' Jesse Lingard deserved a chance to bid farewell to Old Trafford on Monday night, according to Dimitar Berbatov.

Lingard's contract is set to expire at the end of the season and, having featured rarely for United this season, is expected to leave the club. The 29-year-old was named on the bench for the visit of Brentford earlier this week, a game which would be United's last at home of the campaign and had to watch as the likes of Edinson Cavani, who is also set to leave, come on as he remained unused.

On Friday, Ralf Rangnick defended his decision not to pick Lingard, telling reporters: "To start with, I think in the last couple of weeks under my tenure he has played far more games than he used to before I came. Number two: on game day against Chelsea he contacted me in the hotel and asked me to release him from the game and to also release him from the training session the following day and two days after the Chelsea game for personal family reasons, and I also allowed him to do that.

ALSO READ: Gary Neville hits back at critics of Ralf Rangnick after Jesse Lingard decision

"And this was the reason with only three subs, unfortunately - in the other leagues you have five subs - I had to take a decision between bringing on Edinson Cavani or Jesse Lingard, or even the young Alejandro Garnacho, whom I would have loved to have brought on and given a chance after going 3-0 up with 15 minutes to play. But I took the decision to bring on Edinson for the very reasons I just explained to you."

However, Berbatov believes that Lingard should have been given a chance to play in a red shirt for the last time at Old Trafford. Speaking to Betfair, the former United striker said: "Jesse Lingard has