According to The Telegraph, West Ham will submit a bid for Jesse Lingard in January after contract talks with Manchester United collapsed.
What’s the story?
Well, it seems we could have a bidding war on our hands here, as The Telegraph believe Newcastle are also keen on the West Ham target.
Lingard has grown frustrated at Manchester United for their behaviour during contract talks – The Times claim he was offered a lower salary.
It comes after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has given the 32-cap England international just 63 minutes of Premier League action this season.
Lingard shone on loan at West Ham last season, scoring nine goals in 16 Premier League appearances, while also providing four assists.
The Telegraph state that David Moyes tried to get him back over the summer, but received little encouragement from the Red Devils, nor Lingard himself.
Now, however, the £110,000-a-week man’s situation has changed drastically.
Re-signing Jesse Lingard would be a West Ham masterstroke
Aside from the fact he thrived at the London Stadium last season, re-signing Lingard in January would be a masterstroke by Moyes for one reason.
On January 9th, the Africa Cup of Nations will begin, with Saïd Benrahma’s Algeria participating in the tournament.
Should they go all the way, West Ham won’t have their No.22 back until after February 6th.
Given his status as a key player, that would be a real blow to Moyes as he looks to qualify for the Champions League, and also go as far as possible in the Europa League.
In that respect, re-signing Lingard – for a fee which could end up being as low as £10m – would be genius.
It would give the Hammers a direct replacement for Benrahma, but not one who will bloat the squad upon his return to east London given his versatility.
This is a no-brainer for West Ham, in every single sense.
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