Three BOLD Predictions for Jesse Lingard at West Ham

How Jesse Lingard gets on at West Ham, under his former manager David Moyes should be telling for both the player and team moving forward.

Forget Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s words wishing Lingard the best in his loan move and hoping he comes back a better player, that is complete BS. Lingard was offered a Premier League lifeline at a club as solid and good as West Ham because of his international and professional career barring the last few seasons. He is done at Manchester United and is on trial for the Hammers and every other Premier Leauge team now.

Because of this fact, I imagine Lingard will be motivated to do what his manager asks of him in order to fully take this centre-stage opportunity. He has one year left on his current deal after this season and is 28-years-old. Lingard could potentially be playing for his last ‘big’ contract of his career.

West Ham did pay a loan fee as well as the entirety of Lingard’s wages in order to take him on over Newcastle or West Brom. These good-faith negotiations could be the first step to taking Lingard permanently after this loan expires. Moyes clearly likes working with the player and whilte bringing in a 28-year-old player isn’t exactly the Red Bull model, having Premier League experience is rarely a bad thing.

Overall, I see a chip on the shoulder type player in Lingard and bringing him to the biggest club in London to prove he is still a terrific player could light a fire under him. At a bare minimum, Lingard will be expected to play on both sides of the ball and run his socks off in every match. If he does that, there is no reason to believe he won’t be a success this season and beyond, both at West Ham.