West Ham are looking to return to European football next season, having recently had Europa League and Conference League runs.
The Hammers won the UEFA Conference League in 2023, beating Fiorentina 2-1 in the final, with Jarrod Bowen scoring a dramatic winner, and sealing victory for the Hammers.
Last season, West Ham failed to qualify for Europe, finishing ninth in the Premier League, which saw David Moyes’ reign in charge come to an end for a second time, with a new era beginning this season, under new manager, Julen Lopetegui.
Regardless of their start, he might well wish he had a prime Jesse Lingard at his disposal.
Jesse Lingard at West Ham
Lingard spent six months on loan with West Ham, joining in January 2021. The English midfielder was a sensation during his stint in east London, enjoying some of the best days of his career.
Indeed, he made 16 appearances for the club in which he netted nine goals and provided four assists across 1,425 minutes played.
Lingard had managed to rediscover the form that had once seen him in the England national team setup, having scored 13 goals and provided seven assists in the 2017/18 season, before heading to the World Cup with the Three Lions in 2018, scoring one goal, and providing two assists there.
There were claims at the time that West Ham had found their new Dimitri Payet, making attempts to bring the midfielder to the club on a permanent deal during the summer of 2021.
First Impressions
What did pundits and fans alike think about their new star signing when they arrived? Football FanCast’s ‘First Impressions’ series has everything you need.
The Frenchman was a genius player during his own stint in the capital, scoring 15 goals – of which many included some beautiful free-kicks – and supplying 22 assists.
Sadly, the Hammers were unable to strike a deal, and Lingard ended up joining Nottingham Forest a year later.
How Lingard compared to Payet
A failure to bring Lingard back to the London Stadium saw him stay for one last season at Manchester United, making 22 appearances for the Red Devils in all competitions, scoring two goals and providing one assist.
The ex-England international was then released in the summer of 2022, which saw Nottingham Forest acquire his services on a free transfer.
Lingard’s career has slowly fizzled out since, only making 20 appearances for Forest in the 2022/23 season where he registered four goal contributions. It’s a far cry from the days of being compared to Payet. Speaking of which, how did they compare?
|
Lingard vs Payet (2020/21) comparison |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stats (per 90 mins) |
Lingard |
Payet |
|
Goals |
0.51 |
0.31 |
|
Assists |
0.22 |
0.31 |
|
xG |
0.28 |
0.27 |
|
Progressive Carries |
3.73 |
2.91 |
|
Progressive Passes |
4.75 |
5.23 |
|
Total Shots |
2.70 |
1.57 |
|
Goals/Shot |
0.17 |
0.16 |
|
Key Passes |
1.14 |
2.55 |
|
Shot-Creating Actions |
3.99 |
4.35 |
|
Stats taken from FBref |
||
Whilst Lingard was showing signs of replacing Payet at West Ham, the 33-year-old Frenchman was still putting up good numbers for Marseille across the 2020/21 campaign. Payet still averaged 0.31 assists per 90, and made more progressive passes, key passes, and shot-creating actions per 90. That being said, besides key passes, they did rank pretty closely.
Lingard was back to his best infront of goal though, scoring 0.51 per 90, 0.20 more than Payet, and scoring at a rate of 0.17 goals/shot, again bettering the former France international.
It’s sadly now a story of what might have been for the Man United academy graduate who is now valued at just £1m and playing out his final years for FC Seoul in the K-League, having made 18 appearances for the club and scored four goals.
