Jesse Lingard's home debut at FC Seoul sets new K League record as fans queue to buy his merchandise hours before kick-off

Jesse Lingard's home debut for FC Seoul attracted a league record attendance as thousands of fans queued to buy his club merchandise before kick-off.

The 31-year-old former England international, who was released by Nottingham Forest at the end of last season, penned a two-year deal with the South Korean side last month.

And last weekend, Lingard made his much-anticipated K League 1 debut in a 2-0 defeat to Gwangju, where he was brought on with 77 minutes played.

It was a forgettable afternoon for fans but a week later, they were still keen to catch a glimpse of arguably their biggest-ever signing on Sunday.

In fact, FC Seoul built a shop outside the club's 66,000 capacity stadium containing Lingard merchandise – and many queued up for hours to make their purchase.

The ‘Lingard Zone’ at FC Seoul - more than two hours to kick off here and the queue for a Lingard shirt goes on and on. They had to set up a separate ‘shop’ for Lingard merchandise because of the level of interest in him ahead of his home debut. pic.twitter.com/Ybfe7PZEPA

— Stuart James (@stujames75) March 10, 2024

It was later confirmed that Lingard's appearance helped set a K League appearance record after an unprecedented 51,670 supporters attended the Gyeongin Derby.

The previous attendance record was set by FC Seoul in 2018 during a game against Daegu; a clash that attracted a crowd of 45,007.

Fans must have been frustrated to see the midfielder on the bench on Sunday but FC Seoul manager Kim Gi-dong decided to introduce Lingard after the half hour mark.

Speaking after the game that finished 0-0, the former Manchester United man said: "We probably should have won in the end. I had a couple of half-chances. Not enough clear chances, but I think we can build on this.

"I think it's all about mindset and confidence coming into these games."

He added: "In front of a big crowd, first home game - amazing support throughout. We maybe should have finished off our chances."

According to a report by Korea JoongAng Daily, Lingard has become the K League’s highest-paid player following his move.

It is believed that the midfielder will earn around 1.55 billion won per year, which equates to around $1.15 million.