Solskjaer: Man Utd want Lingard back after West Ham loan

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Man Utd manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says the club want Jesse Lingard to come back “revitalised” after his loan move to West Ham, which is expected to be confirmed on Friday.

Lingard has not played a single minute of Premier League football this season and has been restricted to two starts overall – one in the League Cup and one in the FA Cup.

The acquisitions of Edinson Cavani, Bruno Fernandes, and even Donny van de Beek over the past year has seen the Englishman drop down the pecking order at Old Trafford, with Man Utd set to allow him to leave this January on a temporary basis.

Newcastle, West Brom, and Tottenham have been rumoured as potential loan destinations in the past, but West Ham have apparently won the race to sign Lingard.

Any hopes the Hammers have of making the move permanent have received a blow, though, as when asked about Lingard’s departure Solskjaer said Man Utd are already looking forward to his return.

“We want Jesse to come back here revitalised & having shown at West Ham how good a player he is,” the Norwegian told reporters on Friday.

“He’s just been unfortunate with a couple of issues, he’s a Man United player through & thorough.”

Whether or not Solskjaer wants Lingard to return to be a member of the squad next season remains to be seen, and judging by his playing minutes this season the Man Utd boss would likely allow him to leave on a permanent basis in the summer.

Lingard has made 133 appearances for the Red Devils in the Premier League, scoring 18 goals and recording 10 assists.

The player himself seemed to confirm the move to West Ham on social media, posting a picture of travelling luggage with the caption:

“London Bound. #HammerTime You can’t touch this.”

West Ham have only been able to make the loan deal happen recently, as up until Friday they already had two domestic loan players in their squad in Craig Dawson and Said Benrahma, but with the latter’s move now made permanent from Brentford, they have the allocated space for Lingard.