West Ham ran out comfortable 3-0 winners over Southampton at the London Stadium to cap a superb season. The three points secured passage into next season’s Europa League group stages and sealed a record Premier League points tally for the Hammers. David Moyes has led West Ham from the brink of relegation to European football and beaten the previous best of 62 points by three to finish on 65 for the season. Asked after the game if being able to offer Declan Rice European competition is enough to keep the England international at the club, Moyes was clear that is his intention.
David Moyes said: “I don’t think David Sullivan, David Gold or myself have any intention of losing Declan Rice. We have just qualified for Europe, I think it is a brilliant achievement and Declan is a big part of that and we want him to be a big part of what we do next year as well.”
The 28-year-old was playing in his final game of his Hammers loan spell but Moyes made it clear he wants Lingard to return as a permanent signing next season.
David Moyes said: “I hope Jesse is here [next season], we would like to keep him but there is no guarantee, he is not our player. He has done an exceptional job for us on loan and we will see where we go from there. I hope Jesse will also appreciate that West Ham has been good for Jesse. I think he was in a place where maybe there are not many other clubs where what he has done here would have happened for him. We have given him an opportunity and a platform. [We had] a group of players that were in good form going into January, Jesse helped us but he joined a group of players with momentum and a club that was doing well and on the up. So, yes. I would like to keep Jesse.”
