West Ham want Jesse Lingard but need the free agent to drop his wage demands in order to push through a deal.
The Hammers have enjoyed a decent window so far, bringing in defender Nayef Aguerd and midfielder Flynn Downes.
Loan goalkeeper Alphonse Areola has joined permanently and West Ham look to be in pretty good shape.
David Moyes would still like more attacking players though and West Ham have missed out on Keane Lewis-Potter after his move to Brentford.
Andriy Yarmolenko has gone and Said Benrahma has been linked away, so West Ham are seeking more attacking midfield options.
West Ham want Jesse Lingard
The main name in the frame for that kind of role is Jesse Lingard.
The 29-year-old is a free agent having left Manchester United at the end of his contract this summer.
Lingard enjoyed a superb loan spell at West Ham in 2021, racking up nine goals and four assists in 16 appearances for the Hammers.
The attacking midfielder went back to United hoping for more first-team football but that just didn’t happen.
Lingard started just two Premier League games and played a total of 356 league minutes for United.
Now available for free, West Ham were thought to be closing in on Lingard’s signature last week.
The Northern Echo also noted that Newcastle weren’t willing to pay Lingard’s wage demands, leaving West Ham in the clear.
Yet there seems to be a problem as The Guardian claim that a deal for West Ham to re-sign Lingard permanently hinges on him reducing his wage demands.
A deal that looked close just over a week ago now seemingly hangs in the balance with Lingard demanding big money.
On the one hand, Lingard has proven he is a quality player and his status as a free agent means he can pretty much dictate his terms freely.
Yet on the other, the Premier League season is moving closer and closer and Lingard is in danger of missing the key part of pre-season training as well as tours to pick up his fitness.
Lingard needs to find himself a club soon and is in real danger of pricing himself out of some very good Premier League moves.
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