Ex-Man Utd star to sign for Steven Gerrard in Saudi Arabia

James Shearman

• Updated: 28 Sept 2023 21:10 BST
• 3 min read

Former Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard is training with Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq.

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard coaches the side that also have former Reds stars Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum on the books.

Lingard is able to train with them as he is a free agent, and has been since the end of last season.

READ MORE: Premier League 2023/24 summer transfers: All the Done Deals

After an excellent loan spell at West Ham in 2020-21, which looked to have reinvigorated his career, Lingard rejected a move to east London in favour of Nottingham Forest last summer.

But, the 30-year-old made just 12 Premier League starts for the newly-promoted side, registering no goals or assists.

Despite that, West Ham agreed to have Lingard train with them this season. But, this time, it was their decision not to sign the England international.

Instead, Lingard will likely play his football in Saudi Arabia going forward - a league that attracted several high-profile players in the summer, and is looking to continue that trend.

Salah to Saudi Arabia?

Another player that could be leaving England for Saudi Arabia is Liverpool's Mohamed Salah.

According to journalist Bruno Lemos, Al-Hilal will join Al-Ittihad in the race for the Egyptian attacker and movement is expected from both sides in January.

Al-Ittihad had a huge offer of €175 million rejected by Liverpool in the closing days of the summer transfer window.

And, Lemos is reporting that Salah remains the top target for Al-Ittihad in 2024, who are intent on signing him in either January or the summer.

There have been reports that Al-Ittihad could make a world record transfer offer of around €234m for Salah, although it remains to be seen if they would pay such an amount when Salah is six or 12 months older.