Rio Ferdinand has revealed on Five that he has had arguments with pundits over West Ham United’s Jesse Lingard.
Lingard joined West Ham in January and he moved to the London Stadium with a point to prove.
The 27-year-old had been ostracised at Manchester United, after two difficult seasons at the club.
However, he has been nothing short of a revelation since his move to West Ham.
Lingard already has five goals to his name, and he scored a belter in a 3-3 draw with Arsenal at the weekend.
There is already talk that West Ham will attempt to make his transfer permanent in the summer.
And Ferdinand feels that Lingard is now starting to show the quality that he always knew he had.
“Jesse Lingard, since he’s gone in there, what he’s done is amazing. But this kid, I’ve always said it,” he said.
“I’ve argued with pundit after pundit, on air and off air. He could play in any top team, because he’s an intelligent footballer. He can play off one touch or two touch. He gets judged on his antics on social media. Some people it rubs them up the wrong way, and they don’t like him because of it and a lot of the youngster generation love it.
“But if you’re looking at him as just a cold footballer, anyone who knows football surely has to see the kid has a talent.”
Whether Lingard will stay at West Ham now remains to be seen.
David Moyes has clearly bought the best out of him, but Manchester United must be taking note of his form now, with Lingard already forcing his way back into the England squad, through the quality of his displays.
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