Former West Ham and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has backed current Hammers loanee Jesse Lingard to leave Old Trafford on a permanent basis in the near future.
The 28-year-old has been in sparkling form since arriving at the start of this month, with two goals on his Irons debut endearing himself immediately to the Hammers faithful.
Ferdinand, who also represented England on 81 occasions after leaving east London for £23.4m in 2000, has suggested that the attacking midfielder’s time could be up with his parent club. He told BT Sport: ”I think they’ve [Manchester United] moved past him with the players they’ve recruited, he doesn’t feature and hasn’t done for so long.”
The retired centre-back went on to say that Lingard’s ‘aim’ for the remainder of the season should be to earn a permanent move to the London Stadium. The loanee’s first three outings for West Ham have earned the attacking midfielder an average Sofascore rating of 7.53 – higher than another recent Hammers signing in Said Benrahma with just 6.6.
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Having not featured for so long under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, it’s hard to see a route back into Manchester United’s first team regardless of his performances with the Hammers.
David Moyes’ determination to not have his fingers burned in the January transfer market seems to be paying dividends with Lingard.
More or less a try-before-you-buy deal, should the 28-year-old continue to perform at his current level, West Ham should certainly attempt to make the move permanent in the summer.
