Sir Alex Ferguson still keeps track of his former Manchester United players, and has sent a message of support to Jesse Lingard at West Ham.
David Moyes, the Hammers boss, revealed the legendary former Man United manager had been in touch to say he was keen to see Lingard do well at the London Stadium.
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The 28-year-old was coming through the ranks at Old Trafford when Fergie was in charge and is now looking to reignite his career at West Ham, having moved on loan in January.
“He’s only here in the short term but already I’ve spoken with Sir Alex, who asked me to pass on his best to Jesse; he mentioned he was thinking about him because Sir Alex had him as a boy at Old Trafford,” said Moyes.
“And then when I was there I had him for a little bit as well just at the start of it.
“That just shows you the interest Sir Alex has in all the young players he had, all his teams and all his clubs he shows a great interest in them and he was pleased Jesse got off to a good start.
Lingard scored twice on his debut for the Hammers in a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa at the start of the month.
The England international was ineligible for the FA Cup tie against United on Tuesday but will be back in the squad for Monday’s Premier League game against bottom side Sheffield United.
Asked about Lingard bringing a winning mentality from United, Moyes said: “I refer back to my time at Everton when I brought Phil Neville in and I brought Tim Howard in.
“Phil Neville was great for his mentality and what he brought, it really gave us another edge. Him as a player as well gave us something else. I’m hoping Jesse does the same.”
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West Ham are one of the surprise packages of the season after finishing just five points above the relegation zone in the previous campaign with 39 points from 38 games.
They have already matched that points tally to sit just outside the Champions League places and, if outsiders have been taken aback by their success, Moyes always maintained his self-belief.
“West Ham as a football club and the group of players have been remarkable,” he added. “The players have been brilliant in everything they’ve done.
“As for myself, I’ve been a bit surprised because I’ve said many times that most of the teams in my career I’ve tended to be managing around the top of the league, not around the bottom of the league. So it’s only a little bit in recent jobs where I’ve been asked to do that.
“But I’m hoping that the future is we’re going to be managing West Ham around the top of the league.
“I have been in this situation before and I have tried to explain how you can have a good season and then have a bad season. That happened at the start but we need to get to a level of stability with your team.
“We have the best improvement in total points since this time last season than any other team and it is possibly too big a spike. Somewhere along the line we have to get a consistency for our level and I hope it is the level we are at now.
“The players know inside the dressing room exactly what I want and what I expect, but that is for the dressing room and not for anybody else.”
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