David Moyes responds to speculation linking Lingard to West Ham

West Ham United manager David Moyes has opened up on Jesse Lingard’s progress as the Englishman continues to be linked with a return to the East London club.

The 30-year-old has been training with the Hammers since being released by Nottingham Forest, leading to speculation suggesting that he could be handed a short-term contract.

Lingard spent a fruitful six-month spell on loan with West Ham in the second half of the 2020/21 campaign, bagging nine goals and five assists in 16 Premier League appearances.

However, his re-emergence was not enough to convince Manchester United that he was worth keeping, and the Red Devils allowed him to depart the club as a free agent.

West Ham were understandably keen on re-signing Lingard, but the England international opted to join Forest on a one-year contract instead.

His time at City Ground did not go according to plan as he failed to register a single-goal contribution in 17 Premier League appearances – although he netted twice in three Carabao Cup outings.

Despite his earlier snub, West Ham could offer Lingard a lifeline, and Moyes has not ruled out the prospect of him earning a contract, having impressed in training.

“Jesse [Lingard] has trained with us for three weeks, and he’s improved greatly from when he first came in,” Moyes told talkSPORT.

“He’s in really good condition – much better condition than he was when he first came in.

“I have to say when Jesse joined us two years ago, I think he scored nine goals in 15 games and was probably the difference between us getting into Europe for the first time.

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“I want to give him every opportunity to get himself back in condition and see how he does.

“So there’s no real update on it at the moment, just to say that he’s back and getting much closer to the levels of fitness where you’d hope he would be.”

West Ham are unbeaten in their opening four Premier League games, picking up ten points from a possible 12 and will hope to extend their impressive run when they host Manchester City at the weekend.