Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has sung the praises of West Ham star Jesse Lingard on his ‘FIVE‘ YouTube channel.
Ferdinand spent the bulk of his career with United and retired as one of the most decorated players in the club’s history.
MORE: West Ham see odds slashed over permanent transfer deal for Man Utd’s Jesse Lingard
He knows exactly what it takes to make it at Old Trafford, but today, he’s discussing someone that didn’t – Jesse Lingard.
While Lingard had his time as a Man United player, he was very rarely considered indispensable, with his swift fall out of favour under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer testament to that.
Lingard is back on the map now, though, having joined West Ham on loan in the January window, and what a piece of business that’s proven to be from all involved.
The England international has been in inspired form, with Ferdinand revealing on his ‘FIVE’ YouTube channel that he’s always been fighting Lingard’s corner:
“Jesse Lingard, since he’s gone in there, what he’s done is amazing. But this kid, I’ve always said it.”
“I’ve argued with pundit after pundit, on air and off air. He could play in any top team, because he’s an intelligent footballer. He can play off one touch or two touch.”
“He gets judged on his antics on social media. Some people it rubs them up the wrong way, and they don’t like him because of it and a lot of the youngster generation love it.”
“But if you’re looking at him as just a cold footballer, anyone who knows football surely has to see the kid has a talent.”
Lingard has a long way to go before he will convince his critics that this is anything other than a purple patch, but he’s on the right track.