Nottingham Forest summer signing Jesse Lingard has said the determination shown by the club’s owners to sign him was one of the reasons he chose to join the Reds.
The England international joined Forest on a free transfer, turning down approaches from a number of other clubs. The decision came as a surprise to some, with the former Manchester United man widely tipped to re-join West Ham, where he spent a successful time on loan.
Lingard is set to come up against his former loan club when he makes his home debut for Forest on Sunday (2pm kick-off).
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Ahead of the game, the midfielder has spoken about his decision to move to the City Ground, revealing that he turned down ‘life changing money’ elsewhere in favour of playing for Forest.
“I could have gone abroad for a lot, lot, lot more money, life changing money, so for me it’s just nonsense really,” he told SoccerAM of the criticism he received after the move. “I don’t really like to read too much into that, it was my decision, the owners were very strong in their approach to bring me here, they flew me to London, they went overboard to do what they could to get me here. When I see that appreciation it’s hard to say no really.”
“I’m still in touch with the owners now so you can see they don’t just bring the player in and you don’t see them. You see them, you’re WhatsApping them or they’ll be on the phone to you, so it’s a really tight knit group and it’s like a family.”
Lingard made his Forest debut last week when he started the Premier League clash vs Newcastle United at St James’ Park. The Reds fell to a 2-0 defeat thanks to goals from Fabian Schar and Callum Wilson.
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