JESSE’S BATTLE
An emotional Jesse Lingard has admitted he struggled to deal with his mum’s depression and was forced to seek help from Manchester United doctors during his darkest days.
The resurgent England ace, 28, has opened up about his mum’s mental health battle in a brutally honest interview, admitting it affected him on and off the pitch.
Speaking to new YouTube show Presenting, Lingard admitted: “When you’re young, seeing your mum going through something like that, you don’t understand it logically.
“You don’t know what she’s going through. She’d say ‘I’m depressed, I’m depressed’.
“But me, as a kid, you don’t know what that means. You’re just going out, playing out, playing football, doing your thing.
“But mum was in bed most of the time, curtains closed, she’s going through it. This is when I was young, like 12.
“It feels like you’re not the same person, I feel like I wasn’t Jesse Lingard. Even in football matches, I felt like the game was just passing me by, like I just didn’t want to be there – it was crazy.
“I could see myself playing but watching the game back I just think that’s not me, that’s not how I play.”