West Ham: £80k-a-week star will 'regret' not making switch to London Stadium

West Ham target Jesse Lingard will regret not signing for the Hammers, according to transfer insider Dean Jones.

The England international was strongly linked with a return to east London throughout most of the summer window, although he ended up making a surprise move to Nottingham Forest.

Having enjoyed a scintillating loan spell with the Hammers in the second half of the 2020-2021 season, when Lingard’s contract at Manchester United expired, West Ham appeared to be the favourites for his signature.

Lingard scored nine goals and registered five assists in 14 games to fire the capital club into Europe, with his form amongst some of the best of his career.

As a result, West Ham tried to re-sign him once he became a free agent.

According to Sky Sports, they made an offer to the 29-year-old’s representatives, just days before his Old Trafford terms ran out.

But the two parties were unable to come to an agreement and just two weeks before the start of the season, Lingard found a new club, signing an £80,000 per-week contract with Forest.

With Lingard unable to replicate the type of form he showed at West Ham since he joined the Reds, Brown reckons he might regret not returning to the London Stadium.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “I think he should have regrets. It was clearly a better environment for him, he would have played, he was successful there. There can be any number of reasons why he chose Nottingham Forest instead, but I think it was a mistake.”

Lingard might just be seven games into his Forest career, but his time in the east Midlands has been largely forgetful to say the least.

That’s because despite starting all-but two of their first nine games back in the top-flight, he’s yet to register a single goal or assist in