Is Jesse Lingard signing for West Ham? David Moyes delivers update on free agent earning contract after training spell

The 30-year-old midfielder remains without a club following his release by Nottingham Forest at the end of the 2022-23 campaign. Lingard spent part of the summer working at Inter Miami’s training facility, while also being linked with a move to Saudi Arabia.

The England international is yet to land a deal, but he has been catching the eye back at West Ham. He was allowed to join the Hammers’ ranks in August and has been offering enough behind the scenes to suggest that he is worth retaining.

Moyes has told talkSPORT when asked if Lingard will be sticking around in east London: “Jesse has trained with us for three weeks and he’s improved greatly from when he first came in. He’s in really good condition – much better condition than he was when he first came in. I have to say, when Jesse joined us two years ago I think he scored nine goals in 15 games and was probably the difference between us getting into Europe for the first time. I want to give him every opportunity to get himself back in condition and see how he does. So there’s no real update on it at the moment, just to say that he’s back and getting much closer to the levels of fitness where you’d hope he would be.”

Lingard initially joined West Ham on loan from Manchester United in January 2021. He rediscovered a spark while with the Hammers, but no permanent transfer was put in place and he opted against heading back to the London Stadium when joining Forest on a one-year deal in 2022.