{{primary_category}}
{{/primary_category}} 
West Ham United now ready to abandon Arnaut Danjuma deal, step up Jesse Lingard chase
West Ham have reacted to difficulties in their attempts to buy Arnaut Danjuma by “stepping up efforts” to sign Jesse Lingard, The Guardian reports.
The club appeared to be homing in on a move for the Dutch winger, with a fee of €40million plus add-ons apparently enough to convince Villareal, but personal terms have become an issue and they are now ready to move on from the deal.
Jacob Steinberg says that David Moyes is “increasingly minded” to look elsewhere, and as such will turn back to Lingard who he is “pushing” to sign.
The Scot has been trying to bring the English midfielder back to the London Stadium ever since he ended a highly-successful loan spell a year ago.
His Manchester United contract expires at the end of Thursday (30 June) making him a free agent, but there is interest from elsewhere, and his wage demands are apparently a potential problem for the Hammers.
Complications
Nothing can be straight forward for the Irons this summer so it is almost expected that there would be problems here.
Danjuma has had a break-out year in La Liga after leaving Bournemouth, but if direct negotiations with the player are already a struggle it doesn’t bode well for if he joined the squad.
Moyes isn’t the type to react well to that so it is little surprise he is ready to move on, and he will be desperate to complete this Lingard move considering the months he has put into it, with an offer apparently on the table already.
It should have been a done-deal the second his loan contract first ended but the player must believe he has better options if he hasn’t signed up by now.
That didn’t prove to be the case throughout 2021/22 as he sat on the bench, but that hasn’t stopped the Hammers boss in revisiting it once more.
Considering the drawn out nature of both the club’s successful permanent signings this summer, Nayef Aguerd and Alphonse Areola, the play for Lingard dragging on this long doesn’t necessarily have to mean it won’t happen.
But it is certainly growing uncomfortable, and the difference between the amount of leeway Moyes appears to be ready to give the 29-year-old compared to how he has already run out of patience with Danjuma shows how much he wants him.
It’s the way of this window so far at West Ham but it isn’t proving especially enjoyable for anybody involved.