West Ham United striker Michail Antonio admits he was disappointed after seeing former teammate Jesse Lingard snub a return to the London Stadium to join Nottingham Forest this summer.
Lingard became a free agent earlier this summer following his exit from Manchester United and despite interest shown by David Moyes to re-sign the midfielder permanently after a stellar loan spell in the 2020/21 campaign, Lingard snubbed the return to sign a one-year deal with Nottingham Forest.
While at the London Stadium, Lingard’s excellent run of form inspired the Hammers to a sixth placed finish, their highest in a top-flight campaign for over two decades, as well as helping Moyes’ men to qualify for the Europa League, a competition where the Hammers reached the semi-finals before losing to eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt.
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Lingard scored nine goals and four assists in 16 league games for the Hammers and was a popular figure in the dressing room, with Jamaican international striker Antonio admitting he would have loved to have once again played alongside Lingard.
Antonio believes that newly-promoted Forest have a great signing on their hands in Lingard and feels that the midfielder’s move to the City Ground was due to the competition in the Hammers’ squad, as well as the location being nearer to Manchester than London is.
"I definitely was disappointed," said Antonio, speaking on the Footballer's Football Podcast. "He was quality for us, he was a massive player.
"He helped push us and he was one of the reasons why we did finish in Europe. We were looking forward to him [coming back] and he was a player who we definitely need right now in our squad. So the fact that we didn't get him and Forest did is... it's a great signing for Forest.
"I just put it down to he wanted to go somewhere where he can play week in, week out. At West Ham there's loads of competition - there's me, there's Said [Benrahma], there's Declan [Rice], there's Tomas [Soucek] and there's Jarrod Bowen, because he plays in midfield and up top.
"So he might have thought he might not get as much game time [at West Ham] or he decided that Forest was better suited for him as it was closer to home. I don't really know the reason behind it.
"I feel West Ham are probably better suited to push on and progress hs career - obviously with playing European football and stuff like that - but he probably likes the challenge, wants to go there and enjoy his football and see where he can get Forest in the league."
Antonio and Lingard are likely to come up against one another in what could be Lingard's home debut for Forest on Sunday, August 14 when they host West Ham in their first home game of the season at the City Ground.
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