A resurgent Jesse Lingard has been rewarded for his fine form with a call up to the England squad.
The Manchester United midfielder joined West Ham United on loan in January and has gone from strength to strength.
The arrival of Bruno Fernandes at Old Trafford spelled the end of Jesse Lingard as a Manchester United starter. Since then, he’s played with the reserves and been a rotation option.
For all the football world it looked as if he was forgotten, but he wasn’t. Former Manchester United manager David Moyes didn’t forget about him, and brought him to West Ham.
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England manager Gareth Southgate didn’t forget about Jesse Lingard, either. It’s no surprise that Southgate has called him up at the first opportunity. He gave Lingard his England debut. As well as that, Lingard was a key player in the England team that reached the semi finals of the 2018 World Cup.
Since joining West Ham, Lingard has rediscovered that form with 5 goals and 3 assists in 10 appearances. His latest goal was a rather eye catching long range effort against Arsenal.
He revealed to the BBC that a conversation with Southgate was the reason he chose to join West Ham. The England boss is notoriously stubborn about the players he picks having to be playing well in the Premier League.
“Gareth said if I was you I’d be staying in the Premiership,” he said.
“And that was like an incentive – you stay in the Premiership, you get the call up.”
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Ahead of the upcoming European Championships, Lingard has come into form at exactly the right time. He also told the BBC about how he’s been motivating himself to play well.
“I’ve got a big whiteboard with a lot of targets on it.
“It varies, all the games down and shots, take ons things like that. Then I’ve got another board full of things like inspirational quotes, things that can get that fire in my belly. So I’ve come here with a really good mindset and a really good focus and concentration on what I need to do.”
