Jesse Lingard reveals Jose Mourinho used to FaceTime him ‘just to check in’ and he ‘made me a winner’
JESSE LINGARD has revealed Jose Mourinho used to randomly FaceTime him during his spell as manager of Manchester United.
The England midfielder, who has been at Old Trafford for a decade, was coached by the Portuguese between 2016 and 2018.
Lingard enjoyed a stellar 2017-18 campaign under the two-time Champions League-winning manager, scoring 13 times in 48 games.
And, while the 28-year-old admits Mourinho did not look kindly upon players getting injured, he also insists he had a positive relationship with him - even if his methods were sometimes a little unorthodox.
Speaking to , he said: "Me and José had a good relationship generally, though, I have to say. He was good to me.
"Before all the injury stuff, he trusted me, put me in for important games. We won trophies and he made me a winner. He could just bring out that side in you.
"He also liked to have a personal connection with his players. Sometimes I’d look at my phone and I’d be getting a random FaceTime from him. Just out of nowhere — just to check in.
"I used to find it so strange at first. He’d call and be like, “Hey Jesse, what are you doing?” And I’d be like, “Erm, just chilling, watching TV … (awkward silence) … what are you doing?
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"Hahaha! I found it funny. And, to be fair, it showed how much he cared about us."
Lingard returned to Man Utd in the summer following a superb loan spell with West Ham.
He scored nine goals in 16 games for David Moyes' side but then came back to the Red Devils at the end of the season to fight for his place.
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So far in the 2021-22 campaign he has made six appearances for United and scored two goals.
One of those came against his former club West Ham where he netted in the 89th minute to hand Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men a 2-1 victory.
But he remains a bit-part player under the Norwegian.