Manchester (England), Sep 28 (AP) Former Manchester United player Jesse Lingard could be the next Premier League star to join the Saudi Arabian league.

The England international, who is a free agent, is training with Saudi club Al-Ettifaq after leaving Nottingham Forest at the end of the last season.

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Al-Ettifaq is coached by Liverpool great Steven Gerrard and signed England midfielder Jordan Henderson in the off-season.

“I've watched him for many years, so I'm aware of the talent,” Gerrard told Al Arabiya's sports program FilMarma.

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"Jesse is out of a club at the moment, he is not contracted, so he's free to train with anyone else. So, he's coming to use our facilities, he's coming to train with our players, to maintain his fitness."

“Jesse knows there's an opportunity for him to try to convince us to come to the club.”

The Saudi league has embarked on a spectacular spending spree this year by luring some of soccer's biggest stars to the oil-rich kingdom.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Karim Benzema and Sadio Mane have made the move from Europe's biggest leagues, and a slew of other top players have followed suit.

The 30-year-old Lingard graduated from United's academy and left the club in 2022. He signed a one-year contract with Forest and has been a free agent since that deal expired.

Lingard has also trained with West Ham United this season. He had a successful loan spell at the London club in 2021. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)