Rangnick defends decision to deny Lingard Old Trafford farewell appearance

Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick knew his decision not to give Jesse Lingard a farewell appearance at Old Trafford would not be “to the liking” of everyone.

The England midfielder’s brother, Louie Scott, took to Instagram to call the outgoing United boss “classless” after not using Lingard in the club’s final home match of the season against Brentford.

On the social media post Scott wrote: “20 years of blood, sweat and tears. 4 domestic trophies, 3 cup final goals. Not even a farewell. No wonder it’s Conference League next year.”

Lingard arrived at United as a seven-year-old, but is set to leave this summer, with his contract coming to an end. He appeared to follow his brother’s social media outing with a post of his own on Twitter, sharing an image of him as a young boy wearing a t-shirt with ‘United’ written on it.

Rangnick’s defended his decision not to give the 29-year-old an opportunity to say goodbye to the club’s supporters, saying: “In the last couple of weeks under my tenure, he has played far more games than he used to.”

Lingard has been involved 22 times for United this season, but he has only started four matches.

Speaking about his substitutions during the 3-0 win over Brentford, Rangnick said: “With only three substitutes, I had to take a decision between Edinson Cavani and Jesse Lingard, or the young [Alejandro Garnacho], who I would have loved to have brought on and given a chance to play.

“I took the decision to bring on Edinson. Had I not brought on Edinson, someone else might have asked if it’s classless not to bring on Cavani or Garnacho.

Lingard could yet make a final appearance for the club, with their last two games of the season seeing them come up against Brighton and Crystal Palace.