Gary Neville delivers verdict after Jesse Lingard fails to make West Ham move
Gary Neville has expressed his dismay that Jesse Lingard failed to make a return to West Ham this summer after his successful loan spell last season.
The ex-England right-back, speaking to Sky Sports, is adamant that the 28-year-old has made a mistake by staying at Manchester United despite the east London outfit’s public pursuit of him.
“I’m disappointed Jesse Lingard hasn’t left,” he said.
“He’ll get a few games but I think he had something going at West Ham that meant he was standing up as a really good player and to go back into being a squad player again, it’s disappointing.
“Sometimes you need to fly the nest and go.”
Family
Trusted Irons insider ExWHUemployee wrote on the West Ham Way Patreon earlier this week that Lingard was unlikely to make a late move to the London Stadium largely because of “family commitments in Manchester”.
If that really is the real reason, then who is anyone to deny him that and question his motives.
It’s obviously a very personal decision and he has to do the best for himself and those closest to him.
But on a purely sporting level it’s frustrating to see the England international potentially spend months on the sidelines.
The likes of Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba and Cristiano Ronaldo look sure to hog the limelight in the Manchester United side and will be tough figures to budge in the starting XI, while Jadon Sancho, Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Edinson Cavani are also likely to be ahead of Lingard in the pecking order this season.
After establishing himself as one of the stars of the second half of the 2020/21 Premier League campaign and reasserting himself back in the international set-up, it feels like Lingard is taking another step back.
In other West Ham news, the Irons made a deadline-day dash to dump this attacking duo.
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