Mike Southey

Thu 21 July 2022 17:10, UK

Jesse Lingard is said to have made contact with West Ham United officials as the saga of his next move continues, according to ExWHUemployee.

It is suggested that Nottingham Forest may have offered £50,000-a-week more than the Irons to the England international, as they seemingly close in on winning the race.

Lingard is said to have reached out to the Hammers in order to persuade them to meet his demands, but they responded with a clear message that they will not budge.

Writing on the West Ham Way Patreon page, Ex shared the latest with updates elsewhere suggesting that a move to the London Stadium is now unlikely.

“There is a frustration from Lingard’s party that this has not been agreed with West Ham because they believe it is a good deal seeing as we do not have to pay a transfer fee,” he wrote.

“Lingard apparently has spoke to club officials himself to try and persuade them to meet the demands but they wouldn’t budge. It remains to be seen now if this is the deal over or whether West Ham still have a chance on whether they can get an agreement with reports (from other media outlets) that he is due to have a medical at Forest.”

Embarrassing.

The longer this saga drags on, the more clear it becomes that Lingard is only interested in money.

Why on earth would he want to join Nottingham Forest over a move back to the London Stadium? It simply makes no sense in footballing terms.

No offence to Forest, but they are recently promoted and will likely battle relegation, compared to the Hammers who can offer guaranteed European football yet again.

For the sake of £50,000 too, it is of course a big amount of money, but this is a player who has already raked in the money throughout his career and doesn’t exactly need that cash.

What happens if he moves to the City Ground and gets relegated? He will likely still be in a multi-year deal that includes a wage cut – then who would be laughing?

West Ham United are standing firm, and it is refreshing to see finally.