Manchester United star Jesse Lingard explains why he made JLINGZ esports team

At the end of August 2021, Manchester United and England star Jesse Lingard revealed that he had started his own esports organization called JLINGZ, starting off with a team in Ubisoft’s hit FPS Rainbow Six Siege.

Lingard has made it no secret that he’s a gamer at heart. We’ve frequently seen him speak about video games in the past, playing Fortnite with his England teammates at the 2018 World Cup as well as posting his Warzone wins to his Instagram story.

That said, the announcement that he was building his own esports team definitely came as a surprise to fans.

He joins a long list of footballers former and current that have invested in the scene. This includes Manchester United teammate Harry Maguire with Semper Fortis, Gareth Bale’s ‘EllevensEsports’, and sporting icon David Beckham’s involvement with ever-growing Guild Esports.

Lingard recruited Siege player and team captain Sam Williams to help him announce JLINGZ Esports and, a few days after letting the hype die down, the Manchester United man has explained why he made the move, and why it was the right time to do so.

• Read More: David Beckham explains passion for Guild Esports academy

“Esports is fast-paced, it’s fast-growing and it’s global as well,” Jesse explained. “To be a part of something so big, it’s going to be something different.”

But why the move into Siege specifically? Lingard detailed his desire to move into the space: “It’s fast-paced, it’s got a strong community, and to be working with Ubisoft, it goes hand-in-hand.”

https://twitter.com/JLINGZesports/status/1432993728906551297?s=20

Adding that “the JLINGZ esports team can go to the moon,” Lingard is clearly delighted with his new venture and has high hopes and expectations for the team.

It’s still early days, and there’s not even a full JLINGZ Rainbow Six team set in stone yet, but it will be interesting to see where the organization can go in the future.