Rio Ferdinand lambasts Jesse Lingard for West Ham snub
Rio Ferdinand has lambasted Jesse Lingard to join Nottingham Forest over West Ham United.
The England international was heavily linked with a move to the London Stadium in the ongoing transfer window after becoming a free agent [Telegraph].
Ferdinand, while talking to Five, suggested that Lingard made a mistake by joining Forest as West Ham would’ve been a great fit for him.
“No [not the right choice to join Forest],” he said. “West Ham was on the table. They wanted him. It was spoken about for ages.
“He missed a lot of football went to West Ham and proved what I thought he was always capable of. He got himself back in the England squad.
“He’s gone and signed a one-year deal at Nottingham Forest who will likely be relegation threatened. Jesse, I just feel West Ham was such a great fit.”
Blunder
While not being able to sign Lingard would be a serious blow for West Ham, it would’ve been an even more of a blow for the player himself, considering he opted to make a move for a club that is likely to be in the relegation zone compared to a club who are definitely trying to break into the top-six.
As far as West Ham are concerned, they have been smart about their business as they instead opted for Maxwel Cornet who is not only young but with him arriving at the club, he brings something different as well as he is a left-footed winger.
Lingard had a tremendous loan spell with West Ham in the 2020-21 season where in just 16 matches across all competitions, he managed to score nine times and provided five assists [Transfermarkt]. Those performances helped him regain his spot in the England national team squad as well.