West Ham must avoid Nikola Vlasic and push for Jesse Lingard only
West Ham must pay whatever it takes and sign Jesse Lingard rather than settling for Nikola Vlasic, who struggled to cut it in the Premier League.
According to The Telegraph, the Hammers have identified the former CSKA Moscow attacking midfielder as an alternative to Lingard.
The Daily Mail values Vlasic at £25million which is roughly what the Hammers will have to chalk out to sign the Manchester United attacker.
On the Football Terrace YouTube account, Eurosport journalist Dean Jones gave the Hammers fans an update they were looking for by stating that Lingard wants the club to make a move for him before the August 31 deadline.
Jones said, “Clearly, he’s not in the main plans under Solskjaer. So, their plan was always to visit it in the last week of the window. One, because that’s what the player has really requested, but two, because his value should be lessened by now as well.”
This is undoubtedly perfect for West Ham and they must ensure that the Vlasic link was only a smokescreen to get Man United to drop their price for Lingard.
Vlasic, 23, may be performing relatively well in Russia, but the Premier League is an entirely different ball game, and while he appears to have improved from his rather woeful Everton stint, he’s not quite at Lingard’s level.
On Merseyside, the now CSKA Moscow player made only 20 appearances and managed to have just three goal involvements despite playing in an advanced position.
Lingard, on the other hand, embedded himself into this Hammers side and has often been the one running their attack.
With his quick feet and eye for a killer pass, he was one of David Moyes’ lethal weapons in front of goal and had a superb four months that nearly saw him make England’s Euro 2020 squad.
He’s recently made Gareth Southgate’s England squad too and that’s because he was handed playing time and the freedom to wreak havoc in the final third.
On his YouTube programme Vibe with FIVE, former Man United defender Rio Ferdinand labelled him as an “intelligent” footballer.
At Man United, he will barely get 10 or 15 minutes off the bench in every game and if he’s fine with that, then he can bid farewell to his England career after the international break.
A move to East London makes sense both for the player and club and this is a transfer that must be prioritised before the window closes.
In other West Ham news, Club wants £17m for Euro title winner with 17 G+A, Hammers in hot pursuit – reliable journo
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