West Ham United are reportedly on the cusp of signing Jesse Lingard on loan from Manchester United for the remainder of the 2020/21 season.
According to a report by Sky Sports, Jesse Lingard is finally set to end his misery at Manchester United, albeit temporarily so. The English international is on the verge of joining West Ham United on loan for the rest of the 2020/21 season, having rejected West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United.
Lingard joined Manchester United as a seven-year-old in 2000 and subsequently progressed through the ranks at the club in the decade that followed. However, it was not until the 2015/16 season that he finally managed to establish a foothold in the Red Devils’ first-team setup.
In the couple of seasons that followed, Lingard made some important contributions for the Premier League heavyweights, showing a penchant for scoring world-class goals. However, he has steadily been dropping in stature at Old Trafford since the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the Manchester United manager.
His actual decline started last term, when he went nearly the entire season without scoring a Premier League goal, before becoming a peripheral figure this term. The likes of Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood, Juan Mata and Donny van de Beek are firmly ahead of him in the pecking order for the positions he prefers, meaning his Manchester United future has been bleak for some time.
As a result, interest from several clubs emerged, with even Tottenham Hotspur keen on signing him as former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho eyed a reunion. United, though, reportedly rebuffed Spurs’ approach, and West Ham United have now won the race to sign him.
It will be interesting to see if Lingard’s fortunes improve at all under another David Moyes, with Said Benrahma, Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen the first-choice options to play behind the central striker for the ex-Manchester United boss. Nevertheless, he does have a new lease of life, as far as his career is concerned.
Lingard is expected to complete his medical in Manchester before travelling to London to complete the move. The total cost of a potential deal is should be over than £3 million, taking into account the loan fee and Lingard’s wages.
The Manchester United outcast was even a target for West Brom and Newcastle, but he rejected their approaches to seal the move to West Ham. It remains to be seen if he can resurrect his career at the London Stadium, but for now, he is set to don the famous claret and blue strip for the Hammers for the remainder of the 2020/21 season.
