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David Moyes reveals Ole Gunnar Solskjaer blocked Jesse Lingard’s return to West Ham
West Ham manager David Moyes has revealed his Manchester United counterpart Ole Gunnar Solskjaer blocked Jesse Lingard from returning to the London club in the summer.
Lingard was directly involved in 15 League goals in 16 appearances during a joyful loan spell at West Ham from January last season and the Hammers had wanted to sign the 28-year-old permanently.
But Moyes revealed a conversation with Solskjaer early in the window put paid to West Ham’s hopes of a deal, although the Scot refused to rule out a future move for England international.
Asked if Lingard rejected the Hammers, Moyes said: “No, nothing like that at all.
“Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] made it clear to me quite early in the transfer window that he wanted to keep him. So I knew pretty early in the transfer window that he was staying at Manchester United. I had a private conversation with Ole who made it clear that he was staying.
“I can’t talk about players from other clubs because that’s not really the way we do it, but because Jesse was part of our club for a wee while all I can say is that he made a massive contribution to the team, both on the pitch and off the pitch,” Moyes added. “We really enjoyed having him.
“I hope in many ways Jesse will look at the time and how well the players treated him and made him welcome, so it may change.
“He was great for us, but simply the manager told me that he was keeping them in, and when that happens I believe the manager and that’s the way it went.”
Unbeaten West Ham will face Moyes’s former club twice in four days, starting with Sunday’s League game at the London Stadium.
Lingard is more likely to start in Wednesday’s League Cup third-round, however, with competition for places in Solskjaer’s side further squeezed by the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Moyes denied trying to bring Ronaldo back to Old Trafford during his own spell at the club and revealed he hoped the Portuguese could prove an inspiration for Michail Antonio, who will miss Sunday’s game through suspension after scoring five times in as many matches at the start of the season.
“He’s an unbelievable sort of killer, as far as scoring goals,” Moyes said of Ronaldo. “I hope we can turn Mickey Antonio into a killer of a goalscorer because Ronaldo started as a wide player, and ended up becoming a terrific number nine, so I hope that we can do the same with Mic in the years to come.
“But Ronaldo is an excellent player he has brought another level of excitement to the Premier League, and we will do everything we can to keep him quiet.
“I think that Manchester United always have to be competitive, trying to win trophies, they’re trying to win the Premier League that’s what that club does. From that point of view I think they’ve given themselves a great chance, they have a really good balance of youth and experience in the squad now,” Moyes added.
“I think Ole has been given a real good chance to build the squad and the team, and I’ve got to say I think he’s doing a good job, he’s certainly got a team which is more than capable this year of winning the Premier League and being very competitive.”
Moyes was not afforded the same patience as Solskjaer at Old Trafford and he admitted he wished he had been given the same time to succeed, adding that he only blamed himself for being sacked.
“Yeah, I do [wish I was given more time] because I see it as a huge opportunity to manage the biggest club in the world,” he said.
“And I don’t blame anybody else bar myself. I needed to win more games. If you manage the biggest club in the world then you have to win the games and unfortunately I didn’t win enough games but Ole is doing a really good job.
“I think all managers at any club would always ask for some time and if you can get that chance then it certainly helps you to build your squad and let you put the your thoughts over to the team.”
Moyes has no fresh fitness concerns for United following the impressive 2-0 Europa League win at Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday, and is expected to hand Kurt Zouma a League debut.
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