Adapting to a new country and a new culture was always going to be tough for Jesse Lingard after leaving Manchester United after 22 years and moving to South Korea as free agent in February.
Most of all, he was going to have to get used to living without the trappings of Premier League fame. Eight months on, however, his coach at Seoul FC, Kim Gi-dong, believes Lingard has become a ‘true Korean’.
Recalling their first meeting in the Japanese city of Kagoshima, where the team had a winter training base, Kim says: ‘Isn’t Lingard a superstar?