In recent months, Manchester United have had their troubles finding the back of the net on a consistent basis. One man who has not any such problems though is Jesse Lingard.
Unfortunately for the Red Devils he is currently on loan at West Ham United, who he joined back in January. And it is safe to say that he has been one of the best players in the Premier League ever since joining the Hammers.
Naturally, he is being linked with a permanent move to David Moyes’ side in the summer. While there is no option to buy in his loan deal, he will only have a year left on his Manchester United contract at the end of this season, meaning they could have to let him leave this summer rather than risk seeing him become a free agent just a year later. It is believed that they rate him at around £30 million.
Paul Scholes believes that if he is back at Old Trafford, he can provide competition to Bruno Fernandes. While speaking on talkSPORT 2 and as reported by talkSPORT, he said:
"“I know the quality Jesse has. I worked with Jesse as an 18/19 year-old as a coach so I know the quality he possesses.“His fitness was never going to be a problem even though he hadn’t played for a while, he’s so professional and so fit.“He’s been sensational. For Ole, I think it would be great to have him back to give some competition to Bruno Fernandes.“When he isn’t quite doing it we have a player in Jesse Lingard who is capable of reaching the same heights.“His numbers since he’s been at West Ham have been just as good as Bruno, so it’s always healthy to have competition in the squad.“Hopefully Jesse is ready for that and Ole wants him to do that as well.”"
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Does Lingard have a future at Manchester United?
Lingard is playing the best football of his career at West Ham United. He has already matched his best ever Premier League goal tally in a season for them in just 9 appearances.
According to Premier League’s official stats, he has scored 8 goals and provided 3 assists in 9 appearances this season. Incredible numbers for any player, especially one who spent the majority of the first half of the season on the bench. Thus, you have wonder whether he deserved more chances to play under Solskjaer.
But even if he returns to Old Trafford, it is hard to see where he would fit into this current team as a first-team player. Thus, his long-term future might lie away from the club.
A summer transfer might make sense for all parties involved. While it would give Lingard the chance to join a club where he will get regular first-team opportunities, it also provides Manchester United the opportunity to get a decent transfer fee for a player who will only have a year left on his contract at that point of time.