Starved of opportunities under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Lingard embarked on a loan spell at West Ham United in the second half of the 2020/2021 season and he impressed with nine goals and four assists in 16 appearances for the Hammers.
Lingard is back at Manchester United but could find himself further down the pecking order after the Red Devils signed Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo.
United sold Daniel James to Leeds United on transfer deadline day but failed to agree a deal with West Ham for Lingard.
Neville is adamant that Lingard should have followed James’ lead and moved on from Old Trafford.
"I would actually have thought that a couple more players at Manchester United [would have left]. I’m disappointed for Jesse Lingard that he’s not left Manchester United," the Red Devils legend told Sky Sports.
"He’ll get a few games, he’ll get moments on the pitch, he’ll contribute, but I think he had something going at West Ham last year that meant Jesse Lingard in his own right was standing up as a really good player.
"To go back to being a squad player again I think, for me, is disappointing. I think you sometimes have to sort of fly the nest and go. I thought he’d already done that with what he did last year.
"So I think there’s two or three players that won’t get a lot of game time this year that could have joined Dan James and really furthered their careers and got more football."
