Jesse Lingard is at a crossroads in his career. He has been through the system at Manchester United, established himself in the first team but is now out of favour at his boyhood club.
Combine that with a serious level of criticism from the stands and it seems as though it might be time for him to make a clean break and try to establish himself elsewhere – with the forward keen on a possible move away and eager to re-establish himself as an England regular.
But many have left Old Trafford in the Premier League-era only to find out the grass is not always greener on the other side. Here are some of those players...
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
When Henrikh Mkhitaryan was offered a route out of Old Trafford as part of a swap deal for Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez, it must have seemed like a blessing.
Just a year and a half later, though - and after one memorable scorpion-kicked goal - he was farmed out on loan to Roma after a spell at the Emirates where he struggled to do much of note.
The Armenian found the likes of Mesut Ozil ahead of him in the pecking order, did not particularly establish himself under Unai Emery – who did like to chop and change – and barely made an impression.
In fact, his greatest impact might have been flagging up the ongoing tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan ahead of the Europa League final. At least he now seems settled in Rome.
Victor Valdes
Admittedly, Victor Valdes' situation at Manchester United was not great. He went from first choice at Barcelona to David de Gea's back-up, and fell out with Louis van Gaal at the end of his time there.
Still, a loan to Standard Liege meant he ended his time on United's books as a Belgian Cup winner. He had reasons to be positive, though, with the rest of his career ahead of him.
He joined Middlesbrough and things went from bad to worse. They struggled desperately in the Premier League and Valdes made a number of errors throughout the season.
A LaLiga, Champions League and World Cup winner, he capped off his storied career with his first ever relegation, six months without a club and a premature retirement.
Ashley Fletcher
Ashley Fletcher's career was on the up. He had just had his first senior loan at Barnsley – scoring on his debut, winning the Football League Trophy and promotion from League One in the process.
United offered him a new deal as Leeds tried to snap him up on a free. Instead, Fletcher turned it down to pen a four-year deal with West Ham.
A goalscorer with the Tykes, they dried up for the Hammers. He failed to score a single league goal in London. Then he moved to Middlesbrough for £6.5m, again struggling in front of the net.
January 2018 saw a loan move to Sunderland, where he was heavily featured in season one of Netflix documentary Sunderland Til I Die for his goalscoring problems. Only prior to the suspension of the season saw the 24-year-old impressing for Boro in the Championship.
Rio Ferdinand
Sure, Rio Ferdinand had a tough time under David Moyes. And he was released from his deal at United, but the veteran was confident over what would come next. He was a legendary defender after all.
He wrote on his official site: 'I am feeling fit and healthy, ready for a new challenge and looking forward to whatever the future holds for me.'
Newly promoted QPR came along. Ferdinand played just 12 games in all competitions, looking as though his legs had deserted him in the process.
He would be released and retired in May 2015, bringing an end to his career 12 months after heading out of the United exit door.
Nemanja Vidic
Like Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic was one of the victims of the Moyes era at United. He left at the end of that season for Inter Milan.
By the end of September he had been at fault for a draw as an error let Franco Vazquez score for Palermo in a 1-1 draw. And when Roberto Mancini came back, he dropped the Serbian.
While he worked his way back into the side, he would only make 23 appearances in 2014-15 and none the following campaign.
In January, he decided to retire after his contract at Inter was cancelled by mutual consent.
Ravel Morrison
A caveat on Ravel Morrison. When he eventually made his debut at West Ham, having decided to get out of Old Trafford, it looked as though he had made a decision of genius.
Morrison was meant to be a generational talent that Sir Alex Ferguson had given up on and after a loan at Birmingham to get him experience of football, he started to shine in the Premier League.
His sensational solo strike against Tottenham, where he dribbled half the length of the pitch before dinking a cocky finish over the keeper, still lives in the memory. But then something changed. He was farmed out on loan to QPR and Cardiff before moving to Lazio. He barely played there before going back to the Rs on loan and Atlas in Mexico.
While he impressed at Ostersund last season and got a move to Premier League Sheffield United, he has since joined Middlesbrough on loan and barely kicked a ball. It has never really worked for him.
Dwight Yorke
Dwight Yorke was half of one of the Premier League's most feared strike partnerships ever with Andy Cole, so it must have been a positive to see him rejoin his old team-mate at Blackburn.
Initially, he impressed. He got 13 in his first season. Yet manager Graeme Souness soon fell out with him, reportedly accusing Yorke of not trying hard enough. They even exchanged tough tackles in a six-a-side game.
Yorke was allowed to leave for Birmingham, although he was released after just eight months following 13 appearances.
He then spent time at Sydney and Sunderland before retiring in 2009.
Lee Sharpe
Long before his stint on Love Island, Lee Sharpe was one of the original title winners under Sir Alex Ferguson. The Class of 92 might have made a first-team berth harder for him to find, but even in his last year at United he played in 31 of 38 league games.
That despite his party-boy reputation - the story of Fergie breaking up a soiree involving Sharpe and Ryan Giggs, who unsuspecting opened the door to his manager while holding a bottle of beer, is legendary.
A move to Leeds should have been a useful step but the manager who signed him – Howard Wilkinson – was sacked just a month later. He played just 26 times in the 1996-97 season before being ruled out for the entirety of the next campaign with a knee injury.
Sharpe went on loan to Sampdoria, then helped Bradford City get promoted. His career fizzled out though – he was turned down by Grimsby in the summer of 2002, went to Grindavik in Iceland and then spent time with Garforth Town in West Yorkshire.
Sharpe is now best known for his role as a frequent guest on ITV's celebrity driven shows in the mid-2000s. He appeared on Celebrity Wrestling, Celebrity Love Island, Dancing on Ice and Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.
lukzlat910
181
Lingard is a true gentleman, I feel bad for him, he gets so much hate....people like Giroud and all those players who haven't scored many goals or had many assists aren't getting slammed but Lingard.....I know he's going through a really rough patch but who doesn't go through that?? Let's not forget my fellow United fans, that he's the guy who won us the FA Cup in 2016, he dribbled past 7 players to score the opening goal in the Community Shield....he's done a lot if you think about it so at least appreciate what he's done for us....also you people will complain that he's fooling around on the training ground but you've heard everything he goes through at home....life isn't that simple for him, he can't really have the heart to joke around or be a clown with a sick mother and having to take care of his siblings and daughter.....it's really touching and sad so stop with the hate guys....