David Moyes should push West Ham to bid for Jesse Lingard at the end of the season after Rio Ferdinand urged the on-loan midfielder to quit Manchester United for good.

What’s the word?

While speaking on BT Sport, via quotes by The Sun, Ferdinand claimed Lingard’s temporary move to the London Stadium will be seen as a failure if the Irons do not make efforts to retain the England international beyond his half-season deal.

Lingard joined West Ham on loan for the remainder of the campaign during the winter transfer window, but no purchase clause was included in the terms of his move.

The 28-year-old is expected to hold talks over his long-term Old Trafford future with Red Devils chiefs in the summer, at which point he will have one-year remaining on his £100,000-per-week contract.

Lingard could cost West Ham up to £4m for his six-months on loan, having paid Manchester United a £1.5m loan fee, agreed to cover his salary in full and pay a £500,000 bonus should Moyes guide the east London outfit into Europe.

And the spending may not stop there, as Ferdinand believes Lingard has to leave Old Trafford in the summer as his parent side have now moved on from the playmaker.

“What's his ambition here, beyond this season? What is he looking to do?” Ferdinand said. “If West Ham don't put a bid in to buy him at the end of this loan, I think this loan has to be seen as a failure.

“That's got to be his aim – to get a bid from West Ham and other clubs to take him out of Man U. Because I don't see him going back to Man U and really affecting that squad now.

“I think they've moved past him with the players they've recruited, he doesn't feature and hasn't done for so long.”

Should West Ham bid for Lingard?

West Ham will be in a strong position to purchase Lingard at the end of the season should he continue featuring as often as he has since arriving at the London Stadium, as he will know the future can be bright in claret and blue.

The picture was very bleak for the £9m-rated maestro at Old Trafford before leaving on loan, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer only awarding 179 minutes of action across all competitions this season – less than he has featured for under Moyes (262) already.

Lingard has enjoyed an impressive start to life in east London, as well, having scored twice on his debut in a 3-1 win away to Aston Villa and turned in a vastly influential display in Monday night’s 3-0 win over Sheffield United.

He was always a threat on the break and looking to get West Ham moving in the right direction, with a game-high six attempted dribbles and the joint-most successful efforts (3) with Blades defender Chris Basham, per WhoScored.

No one who featured for either side took more shots than Lingard (5), too, while also finding the target (4) at least twice as much as any other player, though unable to find a way past Aaron Ramsdale.

His performance was at such a level that Lingard now leads West Ham for average shots per game in the Premier League this season with 3.7 – 1.5 more than second-ranked Michal Antonio – and is first for dribbles with 4.3 attempted – 1.4 more than Antonio (2.9).

If Lingard keeps up these performances, Moyes should have no reason to not bid for his signature in the summer, having already stated that he is open to a potential deal.

AND in other news, West Ham may rue not signing a £1.8k-p/w target in January as he nears a pre-contract agreement