David Moyes could not sign Manchester United ace Jesse Lingard at West Ham due to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Speaking in a press conference (h/t Sky Sports) ahead of the match against Manchester United on Sunday, West Ham manager David Moyes spoke about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer making it clear to him that Jesse Lingard was staying at Old Trafford beyond this summer.
The 28-year-old midfielder was on loan at the London Stadium for the second half of last season. His good run of form for the Hammers even saw him return to the fray for the England national team.
He was linked with a return to London this summer and Moyes, a former Manchester United manager himself, was seemingly keen on bringing him in. But as it turned out, Lingard has stayed and is even getting a few minutes for the Red Devils.
And the West Ham manager has revealed that Solskjaer made it very clear to him in a private conversation that Lingard was set to stay at Old Trafford.
Where next for Jesse?
“Ole made it quite clear to me early in the transfer window that he wanted to keep him. So I knew pretty early that he would be staying at Manchester United. I was hearing all the stuff but I had a private conversation with Ole who made it clear he was staying.”
When asked about revisiting his interest in Lingard later, Moyes did not explicitly deny that he will stop his pursuit. On the contrary, he sounded hopeful for the situation surrounding the playmaker to change.
“I hope in many ways Jesse will look at that time and how well the players treated him and made him welcome. So it may change.”
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Lingard isn’t the first name on the team sheet but he does make for a useful squad member with his experience and versatility. The Reds are believed to be in contract talks with him, but if that fails, then perhaps selling Lingard would make sense for the club.