West Ham United refusal leaves Nottingham Forest in line to sign Jesse Lingard – talkSPORT
West Ham have refused to increase their wage offer to Jesse Lingard, leaving Nottingham Forest to sign him, talkSPORT reports.
After a full year of chasing the former England international it looked in recent days like the 29-year-old had chosen the Hammers over Everton, Newcastle, MLS or the Middle East [90min], until an 11th-hour intervention from the newly-promoted side.
The Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg reported late last night the “surprising development” that not only had Forest made an offer but the ex-Manchester United attacker was “close” to a deal.
Having come so close to completing an agreement the Irons could have made a last-ditch final effort to convince Lingard to come to the London Stadium, but they will not do that and now the late, late rivals for his signature are in position to sign him.
The talkSPORT report says that he is “leaning towards” Forest over West Ham now, in what they call a “bitter blow” to David Moyes and the club.
A half-season loan spell under the Scot during the 2020/21 season made a permanent move seem inevitable, but the player’s £180,000-a-week wage demands have proved the stumbling block.
Bitter
It is not yet known if Steve Cooper’s side have come in with an offer of the full amount that the player was asking for, but at this point if they have done then they are welcome to him.
From Lingard’s point of view he is within his rights as a free agent looking at his last major contract to seek as much as he can get.
If the Reds want to splash out and make a big statement then obviously that’s their prerogative, and if he is anywhere near as productive at the City Ground as he was in east London it will prove worth it.
That doesn’t make it any more frustrating for the Hammers boss who has been trying to reunite with Lingard for an entire year, but if they value him at a certain level then so be it.
After he turned down the chance to move permanently last summer, and decided to remain on the bench at Old Trafford again in January, and then still wasn’t ready to sign once he became a free agent, perhaps the writing was on the wall some time ago.
The relationship he had built up with the manager and the fans is already damaged by this point, so arguably the golden opportunity for both sides is already gone.
None of the interested parties aside from apparently Forest were ready to pay Lingard what he wanted, but from a contract stand-point he looks to have gambled and won.
Whether he will be as successful there as he could have been at West Ham is now a moot point, but it is one that will sting at the London Stadium if it goes through.