David Moyes has admitted Jesse Lingard took him by surprise when the England midfielder snubbed a return to West Ham United, to instead sign for Nottingham Forest this summer.
David Moyes admits Jesse Lingard surprise by snubbing signing for West Ham
Jesse Lingard ‘surprised’ David Moyes by turning down his chance to join West Ham United in a free transfer, to instead sign for Nottingham Forest after leaving Manchester United at the end of his contract earlier in the summer, the Scot has shared via quotes by Sky Sports.
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The Red Devils opted to let Lingard leave Old Trafford once his terms expired in June, after 20 years associated to the club. He had only played for 355 minutes across 16 appearances in the Premier League last season, whilst starting the action on just two occasions, as well.
Moyes believes West Ham did everything they could to tempt Lingard to sign for the Irons in a free transfer. It would have seen the 29-year-old return to the London Stadium after a hugely successful loan spell during the second half of the 2020/21 Premier League season.
Lingard offered nine goals and five assists over 16 appearances in the claret-and-blue shirt. Yet his form in east London failed to convince Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that he merited games at Old Trafford. Ralf Rangnick frequently overlooked Lingard through his interim spell, too.
But despite the offer West Ham put on the table, Lingard elected to sign with Nottingham Forest following their promotion. Steve Cooper led the City Ground outfit back to the top-flight after 23 years away with victory in the Championship play-offs against Huddersfield.
Nottingham Forest offered Jesse Lingard worse terms than the Hammers
Nottingham Forest offered Lingard a lower salary than West Ham to sign the Manchester United product, per The Telegraph. The City Ground hierarchy are only paying him a basic wage of £80k-a-week, whereas the Hammers had offered the 32-cap maestro £127k-a/w.
West Ham were also prepared to give Lingard a signing-on bonus close to £1m to return to east London. But Cooper’s personal pitch, with owner Evangelos Marinakis, impressed the Warrington-born playmaker, as he appreciated how he would fit into the Forest line-up.
But given what West Ham offered Lingard, Moyes was taken aback to see the one-time FA Cup winner snub signing with the Irons in a permanent transfer to join Nottingham Forest.
“I was surprised, yeah,” Moyes said. “I thought Jesse in the end would come here, and I’ve got to say the club made him a really good offer. You couldn’t turn around and say David Sullivan and the owners didn’t do everything they could to get him. They certainly did.”
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