Jermaine Jenas has been speaking on the latest edition of Match of the Day 2 about all of Sunday’s Premier League games.
One of the matches that Jenas spent a lot of time on was West Ham United’s 3-2 win over Leicester City, which moved them up to fourth in the table with just seven games to go.
One of the Hammers’ key men was Jesse Lingard, who popped up with a double to score his seventh and eighth league goals for West Ham since joining on loan from Manchester United in January.
This latest performance led Jenas to shower the England international with praise.
He said: “I think he’s got a manager that trusts him, he’s playing in a position that suits him; he’s much further forward, which is why he’s getting involved much more.
“He’s a big player at this football club.
“This is a player that’s playing at the top of his game; it’s not a coincidence that he’s scoring all these goals.
“In my opinion, if West Ham make it into the Champions League, that bit of business in January bringing Jesse Lingard in will be the reason they get there.”
Do you think West Ham should sign Lingard permanently?
Yes, we have to
No, we can get someone else
TIF Thoughts on Lingard…
Last season for the Red Devils, Lingard made 22 Premier League appearances totalling just 931 minutes on the pitch.
However, at West Ham, he has played in nine league games, totalling 799 minutes, and he has scored eight goals and provided a further four assists, so he is clearly a player reborn, and it is great to see.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the summer with the £13.5m-rated midfielder, but we think that Lingard should make his move from Old Trafford permanent.
In other news: ‘He changes games’ – Journalist lauds ‘unpredictable’ £10.8m-rated West Ham man