West Ham United are ready to go all out in the pursuit of Manchester United’s on-loan playmaker Jesse Lingard this summer.
According to Sky Sports, West Ham are bracing themselves for a potentially long transfer saga as they look to permanently secure the services of Jesse Lingard. The playmaker has been a revelation since joining them on loan from Manchester United in January, even becoming one of Premier League’s best performers in 2021.
Unfortunately for West Ham, they don’t have an option to buy clause embedded in Lingard’s loan contract. And although earlier reports suggest that Manchester United are willing to offload the Englishman for just £15 million, they are now reconsidering following the player’s exceptional performances in recent weeks.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer himself was reluctant to let go of Lingard, even on a loan deal in fear of the club’s lack of depth in the attacking unit. Ultimately, it was the arrival of Amad Diallo from Atalanta that may have swayed the Manchester United manager.
Either way, Lingard is having a dream spell at West Ham, scoring six goals and providing four assists in just ten matches. In fact, no other Premier League player has been involved in as many goals ever since the Man United attacker arrived in London.
Lingard’s performances have been critical in helping the Hammers remain in the fight for the top four places, with the club still leading the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and defending champions Liverpool in the league table. The Englishman himself has been involved in ten of the club’s 48 goals this season.
As such, David Moyes is now keen on keeping Lingard in London next season as he hopes to build a solid foundation in attack. Reports even suggest that the former Manchester United boss is eyeing a move for another English outcast in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who could be allowed to leave Anfield in the summer.
As far as Lingard is concerned, though, it remains unlikely Manchester United would want to retain his services in the upcoming campaign, despite the impressive surge of form.
However, the Red Devils are more than likely to use Lingard’s performances to raise his price tag, potentially using the player as a source of income to fund move for their top targets in the market including Jadon Sancho.
The Borussia Dortmund winger has already been linked with a player plus cash deal involving Donny van de Beek and it will be interesting to see how the sale of Lingard affects the club’s transfer policy this summer.