Jesse Lingard reveals he had 'no choice' in joining Nottingham Forest over West Ham as ex-Man United star argues people 'didn't have his best interests at heart' and he couldn't 'voice his opinion'
Jesse Lingard has revealed he 'didn't have a choice' in joining Nottingham Forest over West Ham back in the summer of 2022.
The former Manchester United star moved to West Ham on a six-month loan in 2021 - a year before his Forest switch - and bagged nine goals in 16 games.
Despite arguably playing the best football of his career with the Hammers, Lingard returned to Old Trafford for the 2021-2022 season.
He then left his boyhood club upon the expiration of his contract at the end of that season.
With the memories of his impressive loan spell at the London Stadium still fresh in the minds of other Premier League clubs, Lingard had a number of potential suitors to join as a free agent.
But the ex-England international has now revealed that he in fact 'was not in control of anything' as he lined up his next career move.
Lingard implied that he would have 'preferred' to go to West Ham, but explained that he could not 'voice his opinion'.
'The Forest deal, when we were going through that - and I don't want to go into too much detail - but I wasn't in control of anything at that time,' he told BBC Sport.
'I basically didn't have a choice. I knew what I wanted to do, I knew what offer was on the table from West Ham and what was on offer from Forest - there was a place I'd have preferred to go.
'But people have their own say and at the time I didn't really feel like I could voice my opinion.'
Lingard struggled at the City ground, featuring just 20 times before being released in summer 2023.
While he may not have had his way in terms of his previous career decisions, Lingard argued his move to Forest was a learning curve.
He added: 'Now I can see people didn't have my best interests [at heart]. But obviously West Ham didn't happen. I went to Forest.
'The Forest thing happened for a reason, for me to find out certain things.'
Lingard, who spent 14 years at boyhood club Man United, now plays for FC Seoul in South Korea, after a surprise move in February last year brought him to the club as a free agent.
Prior to his move to the far East, Lingard had spent eight months without a club.
Lingard has scored 10 goals and provided four assists in 42 appearances for FC Seoul.
He revealed this week that 'life's good' in Korea and believes he has rapidly adapted to the different style of football.
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