West Ham United make ‘final attempt’ to win Jesse Lingard race
West Ham United have made a last-ditch effort to try and sign free agent Jesse Lingard, according to Dean Jones via Give Me Sport.
The Irons were well ahead in the race for the 29-year-old’s signature after he was released by Manchester United but Nottingham Forest have come from nowhere and are now close to agreeing a deal, according to talkSPORT as West Ham would not break their wage structure to sign him.
Jones though believes that a final attempt has been made from the London Stadium to beat the newly-promoted Reds to sign the man who scored the winner in the 2015/16 FA Cup final.
West Ham will be reeling if they lose Lingard to Forest as he was such a key target but, ultimately, he is a free agent and a very, very good player,” Jones said.
“So if you want to sign him, you have to accept his wage expectation is going to be at a certain level. They are making one last pitch to him. I don’t know exactly what that is but it’s a final attempt to persuade him.”
Nightmare
For the vast majority of this summer, all West Ham have done is try to get this deal sorted and they don’t even have to negotiate with a club to do so.
This has all been down to the player and his agent demanding ridiculously high wages and signing-on fees that see him still without a club with three weeks to go until the season begins.
Moyes has been vocal in wanting to sign Lingard after he excelled during his previous loan spell in the 2020-21 season where he scored nine times in 16 Premier League appearances which ultimately propelled him back into Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
He went back to Old Trafford and spent the year on the bench but he did prove his ability to perform at the London Stadium, scoring the winner against the Irons.
West Ham cannot afford to allow Steve Cooper’s Forest to waltz in and take the victory so simply and this final offer needs to be a good one to stay in with a chance.