Jesse Lingard is keeping his options open and will make a decision on his Manchester United future in January, 90min understands.
The 28-year-old scored a brace for England in the 4-0 win over Andorra on Sunday, helping the Three Lions maintain their 100% start to qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.
But while Lingard is a favourite of England manager Gareth Southgate, things have not been so straight forward at club level.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has spent heavily in the summer transfer window, recruiting further reinforcements in attack to supplement an already strong Manchester United squad.
Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo have joined Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba, Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Edinson Cavani - all of whom are in direct competition with Lingard for a place in the team.
In order to play first-team football last season, Lingard headed out on loan to West Ham - spending four months at the London Stadium from the back end of January. He excelled while he was there, taking centre stage to bag nine goals in just 16 Premier League appearances - form that helped the club secure Europa League football and a surprise top-six finish.
But instead of moving to London on a permanent basis, Lingard opted to stay in Manchester to fight for his place - informing West Ham co-owner David Sullivan directly of his reasons for turning down a return to the capital.
90min understands that Lingard will give himself until January to earn his spot at Old Trafford, when he will then make a more informed decision about whether or not he has a long-term future at the club.
?Lingard latest:
— Toby Cudworth (@Toby_Cudworth) September 7, 2021
Amid reports he's rejected a new #MUFC contract, understand he remains confident of playing this season but is keeping options open until January - destiny fully in his own hands then.
Chose not to join #WHUFC and Vlasic has since arrived - but you never know.
At that point, Lingard's contract will have just six months to run - and he'll have the freedom to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with clubs from abroad, as well as gauge any remaining Premier League interest.
Should Lingard force his way back into Solskjaer's plans, he will likely sign a new contract at United if one is still on offer. But if he doesn't receive much playing time, he'll look elsewhere and consider where his best landing spot is - seeing as this is likely the last long-term contract he will be offered, given his age.
Source : 90min