Trevor Sinclair believes Jesse Lingard could return to West Ham United in 2022 but fighting off competition from Premier League rivals Newcastle may be easier said than done, as he told talkSPORT (28 October, 9.30am).
Without a single start in England’s top flight so far this season, any hopes that Lingard may have had of returning to Manchester United and securing a place in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s XI appear to have been extinguished.
It is hard to imagine that, after taking the London Stadium by storm during a magnificent loan spell at West Ham in the second half of 2020/21, the England international is particularly pleased with his back-seat role at Old Trafford.
No wonder Lingard seems reluctant to extend a contract that is due to expire in the summer of 2022.
Could Newcastle beat West Ham to Jesse Lingard?
West Ham are almost certain to come calling again, with the Sun reporting that a cut-price January bid of £15 million may be sufficient to twist United’s arm.
“(Man United are) Wasting him. Jesse’s got so much to offer, as we saw last season,” said Sinclair, the former Hammers hero.
“People were questioning ‘oh does he want it, does he have a good attitude?’.
“If he didn’t have a good attitude, he wouldn’t have been able to go into West Ham, score the amount of goals he did and have the impact he had at West Ham if he wasn’t looking after himself properly.
“He looked like he owned the place! The boys loved him. If West Ham keep up their good form and Jesse does reach the end of his contract, I wouldn’t put it past him going back to West Ham.”
Alongside Dominic Calvert-Lewin, James Tarkowski and Harry Winks, Lingard is one of a handful of England internationals to be linked with a move to a suddenly cash-flush Newcastle United side.
As former Arsenal ace Ray Parlour points out, West Ham are at risk of being blown out the water by the head-spinning wages on offer at St James’ Park these days.
“Certainly (West Ham) would be interested,” said Parlour. “(But paying the wages) is the big problem.
“Everyone’s looking at Newcastle now, who they’re gonna go for. I’m sure they’d be paying a lot more wages than West Ham.”
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