After Jesse Lingard’s interview with Sky Sports, one thing is apparent. West Ham needs to do everything they can to gain the signature of their former loanee.
Jesse Lingard spent the better part of 5 months playing and re-growing his skills and confidence at West Ham last season. For the past month now, the ebb and flow of what he was going to do has been as clear as mud. However, after his interview with Sky Sports yesterday, West Ham has been given a lifeline in the JLingz sweepstakes.
With the pre-season warm-ups only a short time away, it has felt that Lingard was closer to heading toward Manchester United rather than Rush Green for the start of the 2021 preparations. However, after an amazing second half of the season with West Ham, Lingard had this to say:
"“Regular football is the most important thing for me. After going on loan and getting a good run in the team, you started to see the real me, with the goals and the assists.”"
The level of confidence that he gained at West Ham was astronomical. In his 16 matches for the Claret and Blue, he scored nine times and assisted another four times. Jesse Lingard needed West Ham just as much as they needed him as the English international helped lead the Irons to a 6th place finish and a birth in the Europa League.
West Ham United must go full throttle to get Jesse Lingard
From his interview, nothing was concrete or cryptic, leaning one way or the other. What it does entail are his wants and desires. Those desires cannot be completed at Manchester United. Lingard was an afterthought last season, and with the rumors of The Red Devils looking at both Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland to deepen their already deep roster.
It isn’t very objective to think that West Ham is the only place for him to get playtime, but with his experiences and friendships gained, it certainly puts the Hammers up top. All they have to do now is get the deal across the line and quickly. The worst thing that could happen now is for them to wait all summer and miss out on him and other high-caliber midfielder needs.