Jesse Lingard is grateful for his time spent on loan at West Ham last season.
Although he didn’t end up making England’s squad for Euro 2020, Lingard’s form for the Hammers at least put him in contention, which nobody would have expected when he left Manchester United at the end of January.
Lingard contributed an impressive nine goals and four assists for West Ham in the second half of last season.
Under former United manager, David Moyes, Lingard won the Premier League Player of the Month for April.
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The midfielder hopes after recharging his batteries he will kick on at Old Trafford.
“Yeah, it was a great time,” Lingard told club media, as per ManUtd.com. “It was like hitting the refresh button. I was always ready to hit the ground running and I was always fit and ready to play.
“I played every game since I got there and when you play a run of games like that you get a bit of confidence. Of course, the goals came and assists as well. West Ham were brilliant with me: the team, the staff, the club. They helped me get to where I am but it took a lot of hard work from my side as well.
“We had a lot of in-house staff we needed to work on with the analysis stuff and, of course, the whiteboards. Those were some individual goals of mine that I liked to set before I went there.
“At the time, it [one goal] was obviously to make the March internationals [with England]. Goals, assists, take-ons, shots. To be protective in each game and to keep that consistency.
“The consistency is definitely a main thing. When you’re playing regular football, you’ve got to keep that consistency and keep scoring, or try and affect the game in a different way if you don’t score or assist.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may decide to keep Lingard as an option, with Marcus Rashford missing a chunk of the season following a shoulder operation.
Then United could assess things again in January.
Let us know in the comments section what would be the best solution for Lingard this summer?
