Jesse Lingard cheers on England against Croatia at Euros in Declan Rice shirt... and with parrott on shoulder!

Jesse Lingard certainly does not seem to have let being cut from England’s final Euro 2020 squad dampen his enthusiasm for the tournament.

After helping West Ham to a top-six Premier League finish and qualification for next season’s Europa League during an influential spell on loan from Manchester United in the second half of the club campaign, the 28-year-old revived his international career in the process and was included in Gareth Southgate’s initial 33-man expanded group for this summer’s rescheduled European Championship.

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But while Lingard went on to feature in both warm-up friendlies against Austria and Romania in Middlesbrough, he was - along with Aaron Ramsdale, Ben Godfrey, Ollie Watkins, James Ward-Prowse and the injured Mason Greenwood - one of seven players that missed out when Southgate had to trim down to a final number of 26 players, with Brighton’s Ben White earning a reprieve following the thigh injury sustained by Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold.

But the disappointment of missing Euro 2020 will rightly not stop Lingard from enjoying the competition regardless and supporting England as they look to finally end 55 years of hurt at major international tournaments.

Raheem Sterling’s goal secured an impressive 1-0 win over 2018 World Cup semi-final foes Croatia in Sunday’s Group D opener at a sun-soaked Wembley Stadium, with Lingard showing his support for the team across social media.

Lingard posted videos on Instagram of himself enjoying the game with friends and other fans, decked out in an England shirt bearing the name and number of former West Ham team-mate Declan Rice, whom he also appeared to video call in the aftermath of Sunday’s contest.

Perhaps most noteworthy of all, Lingard posed for pictures and videos with a parrot on his shoulder as he watched the action on television, drawing plenty of reaction.

“United will sign that parrot on a free,” read a comment from the official Specsavers account.

It remains to be seen if Lingard and Rice will be reunited at West Ham next season, with manager David Moyes - who signed a new long-term contract on Saturday - wanting a permanent deal for the former and to repel any mounting transfer interest in the latter.

However, reports over the weekend have suggested that Lingard wants to remain at Old Trafford and fight to regain a place in the Manchester United team under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2021/22.

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