Jesse Lingard says he turned to alcohol at Manchester United to ‘try and take pain away’ amid struggles

Jesse Lingard says he turned to drink “to try and take the pain away” during difficult periods of his career at Manchester United.

Lingard made over 230 first-team appearances for United after joining the club aged seven.

But he fell out of favour and ended his 22-year relationship with the club last summer to join Nottingham Forest.

He has revealed he used to go to bed with a “nightcap” to try and help escape the problems at Manchester United.

“I needed something to try and take the pain away,” he told The Diary Of A CEO podcast.

“And put me at ease somehow. I was drinking before bed, having a nightcap.

“I look back now and think, ‘what was I doing that for?’ I was trying to forget what was going on. But it makes it 10 times worse.”

Lingard’s mother was also admitted to hospital due to depression in 2019, which left him to care for his younger siblings Jasper and Daisy-Boo.

“The depression was so bad she couldn’t really cope any more and she needed to go away and get help,” said Lingard.

“But leaving me with my little sister who was 11 at the time, and my little brother who was 15, for me, I was still going through my own things as well.

“So I wasn’t really the big brother they wanted at the time. I just wasn’t there mentally.”

Lingard scored the winner in the 2016 FA Cup final for Manchester United and was a regular starter for several seasons.

However, after losing his spot in the first team he says the “abuse” from supporters was tough to take and he confided in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was the manager at the time.

“To be abused like that tipped it. I didn’t want to be on the pitch, I didn’t want to play.

“I didn’t want to quit football. I never would have quit football, but I needed a break.

“We kept it close-knit, but even just to have Ole say, ‘how is your mum? How is she doing?’ helped to let people know what I was going through.”

Lingard joined Forest on a free transfer last season.

“People probably thought I was happy to leave, but I needed to leave,” he said. “I wasn’t playing.

“I got offered a contract, but what’s the point? I wasn’t going to play. Yeah, it’s the biggest club in the world, but happiness is more important for me.”

Lingard says he was disappointed with the way he left Manchester United.

“I didn’t really get a send-off. I had been there that long and think I deserved one.

“I had been there all my life and I know everyone in the club from the staff to the kit men to the dinner ladies. That had been my life.”

Asked if he had lost respect for United, he added: “Probably, yeah. No balance, no structure, people doing what they want. It was like a free for all.

“They are so behind with everything. You see (Manchester) City’s facilities, Tottenham’s facilities. People are miles ahead. Even on the social side of things.”