Back in July, Nottingham Forest surprisingly beat West Ham to the signing of Jesse Lingard, following his departure from Manchester United.
That was according to The Athletic, who claimed that Steve Cooper managed to convince the England international to ignore European football at the London Stadium in favour of joining the Premier League newcomers.
At the time, it was quite embarrassing for West Ham, although David Moyes has certainly had the last laugh.
West Ham dodge a bullet with Lingard
Well, West Ham fans may have been quite upset at the time, although things have worked out nicely.
The east Londoners managed to instead sign Lucas Paqueta from Lyon, who has impressed for the Hammers while Lingard struggles at the City Ground.
In nine Premier League appearances so far this season, the 29-year-old has failed to score, nor has he managed to provide a single assist.
You could forgive Lingard if the effort was there, although a statistic from WhoScored involving James Tarkowski and James Milner makes for awful reading, as far as the Nottingham Forest No.11 is concerned.
As you can see above, the Everton defender has actually had more shots than Lingard, while Milner – who has made just three Premier League starts this season – has registered more successful dribbles at the age of 36.
Clearly, Lingard isn’t trying hard enough at the City Ground – the numbers do not lie.
West Ham are better off without Lingard
According to the Telegraph, West Ham offered Lingard a £127,000-a-week salary, whereas Nottingham Forest proposed a deal worth £80,000-a-week. It was incredibly strange to see him take up the latter offer.
As aforesaid, the Warrington-born forward also would’ve tasted European football at West Ham, under a manager who knows how to get the best out of him in Moyes.
It was all set up for Lingard to resurrect his career, but he bizarrely ignored the offer.
Now, with talent such as Paqueta and Gianluca Scamacca running riot in Europe, Moyes and West Ham shouldn’t even think about taking Lingard on a free transfer next summer, when his deal at the City Ground expires.
The Irons are better off without him, and have most certainly dodged a bullet.
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