Football journalist Dean Jones has been sharing his thoughts on former West Ham United loan star Jesse Lingard and the possibility of him leaving Manchester United in the future.
This comes after Jones made an appearance on a recent episode of Touchline Talk, where he spoke about a range of subjects concerning numerous clubs in the Premier League.
After it was recently reported that Lingard had rejected a new deal from the Red Devils, Jones had this to say on the player and his future, with the player being linked with a move to West Ham during the recent summer transfer window.
He said: “It’s a confusing one, probably, for Jesse Lingard, because on one hand, he’s a United fan, he’s been there since he was a kid and having [Cristiano] Ronaldo back and training alongside him would be ridiculously exciting.
“But in terms of your own chances, you’re just falling further and further down the pecking order and he’s barely getting a look in anyway, so now it looks even more unlikely.
“West Ham obviously did sound him out during the window and they thought that late doors, they might be able to strike a deal, but until those last weeks, Jesse was pretty intent on giving it a go to see if he can get into that United side.
“Ultimately, United didn’t seem too willing to open up conversations, and I think they want to make sure they’ve got a strong, deep squad for this season.
“Maybe in January, I think that this changes, to be honest. I think that once we’re halfway through the season, once the player becomes perhaps more frustrated, but once United also make it pretty clear whether he could figure, we’ll get more of an indication over where he’s going.
“I don’t think he’ll be at Man United.”
TIF Thoughts on Dean Jones’ comments on Lingard and his future…
So far this season, Lingard has played just four minutes of Premier League action for the Red Devils, where he came on as a substitute during their 1-1 draw against Southampton, before spending the entirety of their 1-0 win against Wolves on the bench, despite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s previous claim that Lingard will be in his plans for the season.
In our view, if the opportunity to make a potential deal for Lingard arises in January, we feel that West Ham should definitely see if that could be possible for them, especially considering how well the Englishman did for them during his loan spell last season, where he managed to score nine goals and provide five assists in 16 appearances for David Moyes’ side.
Should West Ham try and sign Lingard in January?
Yes
No
However, with the club having signed Nikola Vlasic from CSKA Moscow during the summer transfer window, perhaps the club may not need to try and bring Lingard back to the London Stadium in January.