Darren Bent urges Jesse Lingard to join West Ham this summer
Jesse Lingard has been urged to join West Ham this summer by former Premier League striker Darren Bent.
The Manchester United attacker spent the last four months of the 2020/21 campaign on loan at the London Stadium and put in a fine run of performances that catapulted him into contention for England’s Euro 2020 squad.
West Ham want to sign the 28-year-old permanently in this transfer window, but Sky Sports have reported that the London outfit believe they have only a “10 per cent chance” of getting the deal over the line.
Despite the minute possibilities, Bent wants him to consider a move to East London.
He told talkSPORT, “He came through the youth system there [Man United] and loves that football club, but ultimately he’s way down the pecking order.
“The form that he showed the back end of last season for West Ham, getting himself back into England contention was superb.
“I would want to keep that momentum going. I wouldn’t want to sit on the bench and not start, get a couple of minutes here and a couple of minutes there.
“I’d be thinking I like what David Moyes is building, playing week in week out, be the main man, and who knows get himself back into this England squad.”
Ball’s in his court
It seems like everybody knows what the better option for the player is barring himself. Lingard, despite being relegated to the bench and reserves for years at the club, still prefers staying and fighting for his future there.
We can understand from Man United’s perspective as they’ll be getting a player who could start a few games until Marcus Rashford is fit and then go back to benching him.
The reason why he moved to West Ham was to get regular playing time and what he did with the minutes he was offered was there for everyone to see.
Ole Gunnar Solskajer may be saying all the right things about the player now but even he knows that when Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Bruno Fernandes, Edinson Cavani and Anthony Martial are fit, Lingard’s probably not going to get too much of playing time.
The Norwegian does rate the player, having labelled him “Excellent” in 2019 [Goal], but he’s not going to bring the most out of the England international like David Moyes has and will in the future.
As things stand, unfortunately, a move for him looks unlikely unless he has a sudden change of heart.
In other West Ham news, West Ham could close in on ‘Outstanding’ striker in few weeks – ExWHUemployee
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