David Moyes is yet to decide whether to offer Jesse Lingard a permanent contract - nearly a fortnight after the summer transfer window closed.
A free agent since being released by Nottingham Forest on a free transfer, the 30-year-old has been training with the Hammers for a month or so as he attempts to persuade Moyes he is of sufficient condition to earn a contract with the club.Yet speaking to radio station TalkSport on Tuesday morning, Moyes was non-committal when asked about the possibility of Lingard - who featured in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Ipswich last weeek - being awarded a contract.
"Jesse's been training with us for three weeks and he's improved greatly since he first came in," said the boss. "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 a couple of years ago he scored nine or ten goals in 15 games and was probably the difference between us getting into Europe for the first time.
"So, I want to give him every opportunity to get himself back in condition and see how he does."
And when asked whether that meant he was on the verge of being awarded a contract, Moyes responded: "There’s no real update on it at the moment. Just to say that he’s back and he's getting much closer to the levels of fitness where you’d hope he would be."
Moyes, who is currently preparing for the visit of reigning champions Manchester City will officially submit his Premier League squad for the 2023/24 season tomorrow; whether Lingard will be in it or not remains to be seen.
* Possible challenging West Ham for his signature, it has been claimed that Ligue 1 side Lyon are preparing to ffer Lingard a permanent contract.
According to lequotidiendusport.fr, John Textor, Lyon's American owner "dreams of bringing Jesse Lingard to the banks of the Rhône ... the Englishman would arrive in Lyon to replace Bradley Barcola".
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