Attacking midfielder Jesse Lingard, who grew up at Manchester United, has it like the plum in the egg in South Korea and the big club FC Seoul.
Jesse Lingard’s agent has revealed the “strange” details of the star’s deal with FC Seoul.
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Former Manchester United player Lingard moved to South Korea after his contract with Nottingham Forest expired, signing for FC Seoul in February 2024.
He signed a two-year contract with the K League club, with an option for another year. Lingard had several offers on the table, but chose to leave the Premier League for an adventure in Asia.
Commercial clauses and cultural differences
Tom Keane, who negotiated the deal on Lingard’s behalf, describes the contract as “very good” for his client, but at the same time the “most strange” he has ever worked with.
Keane emphasizes the major “commercial elements” of Lingard’s FC Seoul deal, where the player gets a percentage of:
- Ticket revenue
- Merchandise sales
- Corporate partnerships
“An interesting contract I recently worked on was Jesse Lingard’s in Korea,” Keane told The Overlap (presented by Sky Bet).
“A very good deal for Jesse. It had a football element, but also a big commercial element.”
He added,
“So, part of the deal was for Jesse to get his regular salary, but because of his name and what he could bring to the club, he also got a percentage of ticket revenue, merchandise and corporate partnerships.”
“It was quite a complex commercial deal. But then there was also this cultural difference – when I saw draft contracts, that part was handled in just two lines.”
“When we spoke to the club, it was very ‘oh, we’ve discussed that’. They trusted us. But I had to say that ‘that’s not how we work in Europe’.”
“It was culturally very interesting, but we eventually came to a solution that everyone was happy with.”
A unique football adventure
The deal shows how Lingard’s global brand and popularity offer him unique opportunities – even if the contract details may seem unusual for European football conditions.
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Now, it remains to be seen whether this unorthodox deal will inspire more players to consider alternative career paths.
