Jamie O’Hara has stated that there is ‘no way’ Manchester United will sell Jesse Lingard to West Ham, as he told talkSPORT.
The Radio pundit stated that Manchester United will see the Hammers as ‘direct competition’ in the Premier League.
West Ham are sitting above the Red Devils in the Premier League table – six points ahead of the Manchester-based club and occupying a Champions League spot.
At the start of the season, many would have thought it was going to be the other way around, but that simply hasn’t been the case.
Nonetheless, despite Lingard’s lack of minutes at Old Trafford this season, O’Hara made it clear why the London stadium won’t be his destination again.
“As if Man United are going to allow Jesse Lingard to go to West Ham,” said O’Hara. “They are above them in the table. That’s not going to happen. That’s competition.
“There is no way they are going to allow one of their players, who is a brilliant player and was brilliant for West Ham the last time he went there.
“They’re not going to allow him to go to West Ham this season because they are in direct competition with them, so that’s never going to happen.”
This time last season, Lingard wasn’t even been spoken about being picked for England and had been out of the set-up for a long while.
But that six-month loan spell in East London changed it all, including a recall by Gareth Southgate and he was unlucky to miss out on the final Euro 2020 squad altogether.
Fast forward to today and Lingard finds himself in that same position, where he isn’t being talked about for England and has once again been left out of the recent squads.
It’s pretty clear for the goalscoring midfielder that a move away from Manchester United is needed.
If that means returning to West Ham, then so be it, but Lingard needs minutes, else he won’t be anywhere near that squad that travels to Qatar next year.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
