West Ham could have helped Nottingham Forest attacking midfielder Jesse Lingard to rediscover his form and get back in the England squad again, believes journalist Paul Brown. The east London club were interested in re-signing the 29-year-old before his move to Steve Cooper’s side, and Brown thinks he will regret not returning to them.
Things are not exactly going to plan for Forest and Lingard right now. The newly-promoted Premier League side currently find themselves 20th in the table, while Lingard is yet to score or set up a goal this season.
His manager, however, is not willing to play the blame game. "Now is not the time to be talking about individuals," Cooper said (via The Independent) when asked specifically about Lingard. "It’s really about the narrative of being together and as one, as much as we can.
That’s what you do in tough times. You stick together and get out of it." With Lingard reportedly earning up to £120,000 a week at the City Ground, though, he will be under the microscope this season.