David Moyes reveals where West Ham are at with Jesse Lingard deal
West Ham have “not even considered” offering free agent Jesse Lingard a contract at the London Stadium, manager David Moyes has said.
Lingard, without a club since leaving Nottingham Forest at the end of last season, has been training with West Ham.
That led to suggestions the 30-year-old could be handed a Premier League lifeline by the Irons, but Moyes has denied that is the case.
“We’ve not even considered a deal at the moment,” Moyes is quoted as saying by Mirror Football [19 August, page 3].
“He’s in training to see if we can get him back fit and get him in decent condition. He’ll be back here next week as well.”
Move on
Moyes helped Lingard revive his career during a half-season loan spell at the London Stadium in the 2020-21 campaign.
The 32-cap England international scored nine goals and assisted four more in 16 Premier League games, matching his best goal involvement tally across any of his seasons at Manchester United.
However, after failing to make an impact at Old Trafford the following campaign, Lingard surprisingly opted to join Forest over West Ham last summer.
After failing to score or assist in his 17 league appearances for Forest – 15 of those being starts – Lingard did not do enough to earn an extension to his one-year deal.
It leaves the Man United academy product in limbo, and it may well be that he now needs to find a club outside of the Premier League – even if that means moving abroad.
Moyes, and indeed West Ham supporters, will have great memories of Lingard’s time in East London.
But that period in the Englishman’s career has come and gone, and the Irons are right to not entertain the thought of re-signing a player who is now way past his best.
In other West Ham news, Jim White has questioned the amount of time it is taking for the Irons to get another deal over the line.