West Ham United have just confirmed the signing of CSKA Moscow star Nikola Vlasic, but links to Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard continue.
The Daily Mail report that Lingard remains a prime West Ham target for deadline day despite the arrival of Vlasic.
It looked like the Croatian would be signing instead of Lingard, but the Hammers are seemingly hoping to unleash both of them on Premier League teams this season.
The problem is that West Ham can’t afford to meet the £25million valuation on Lingard having committed around £55million on Vlasic and Kurt Zouma.
They want a loan deal for Lingard once again, having taken him on loan for the second half of last season.
United don’t want that because Lingard is out of contract next summer, but there is now a possibility that Lingard signs an extension at Old Trafford and then goes out on loan.
The 28-year-old has played just four minutes of Premier League action this season, and the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo is unlikely to help his cause.
Having hit nine goals and four assists in 16 appearances on loan at West Ham earlier this year, Lingard has shown that he is too good to be sat on the bench at United.
A move to West Ham now would be a little strange though, as they now have Vlasic, Pablo Fornals, Said Benrahma, Jarrod Bowen, Andriy Yarmolenko and Manuel Lanzini in those attacking midfield areas.
Adding Lingard too would be edging towards overkill, so unless somebody leaves today, we can’t see Lingard making a return to East London.
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