Jesse Lingard says ‘he enjoyed every moment’ at West Ham ahead of Manchester United’s visit to London

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Jesse Lingard scored nine times while on loan at West Ham last season
POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Harry Latham-Coyle17 September 2021

Jesse Lingard has hailed his loan move to West Ham as a “brilliant experience” ahead of Manchester United’s visit to the London Stadium on Sunday.

Lingard thrived after joining David Moyes’ side in January, recapturing his form after being left largely on the fringes at Old Trafford.

He was linked with a return to London during the summer but instead stayed at Manchester United.

“Like I’ve said, it was a reset for me personally, I wanted to play games, help the team get into the Europa League, which we did, and I enjoyed every moment of it,” Lingard told Manchester United’s official website.

“The manager gave me the freedom up top to roam about, get on the ball and try to make things happen. With the run of games I had, the confidence kicks in and, once you’ve scored one, then two and three start going into the back of the net.

“I wasn’t short of confidence playing and it was one of the best half-seasons I’ve had so it was a brilliant experience.”

Lingard has made two Premier League appearances for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side so far this season.

He made his Champions League return on Tuesday night, making a costly error as Manchester United slipped to a surprise defeat to Young Boys in Switzerland.

Also making their 2021 European bow this week were West Ham, who Lingard helped qualify for the Europa League during his loan spell.

And after they began their campaign with an accomplished performance against Dinamo Zagreb, Lingard and his teammates are not over-looking West Ham’s threat.

“On a personal level, it was about getting minutes, doing well for myself and trying to get back into the England side but, as a collective, Europe was massive for West Ham,” Lingard continued.

“Obviously, you don’t get into Europe if you’re not a good side. West Ham are well organised and can counter quick and be hard to break down.

“It’s going to be a tough game and we’ve got to be at it if we want to get the three points. We’ve trained well so we’ll go into the game confident.”