Jesse Lingard trains with Manchester United amid laughable West Ham quotes

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Jesse Lingard has returned to first team training with Manchester United.

Lingard had been out for a spell after a positive Covid test kept him sidelined for United’s first game of the season and final pre-season friendly.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told the club website that he felt Lingard ‘reinvented himself’ on loan at West Ham last season, and added: “He is going to play a big part.”

Interest from West Ham won’t go away. First team coach Stuart Pearce told Talksport this morning the Hammers still want to sign him.

Pearce said: “The ball is in Manchester United’s court. He is contracted to them. We would like him with us, there is no doubt about that.”

The comments are somewhat laughable, because the ball is not in United’s court. It is not up to United to go and offer Lingard out on loan, or on the cheap.

The ball is in West Ham’s court to make United an offer the club can’t refuse. Just like the same would apply vice versa over Declan Rice.

Solskjaer values Jesse Lingard and has stated he wants more competition for Bruno Fernandes, who tired in the latter half of the season, in a campaign in which he played more than 70 games in a 13 month stretch for club and country.

Lingard demonstrated his quality out at West Ham, and it will take a big offer for United to part ways with the midfielder, especially as he seems content to stay.

If Lingard was desperate to leave he would have made this clear when he returned to first team training. Instead he looks set to stay and push to win trophies with United.

West Ham can try and change the situation. A bid of £25-30 million would prompt a conversation at United even now, just as it would at the start of the summer. The ball is in their court.

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