West Ham United have the last laugh as twist emerges in Jesse Lingard Saudi Arabia deal
West Ham can now have the last laugh at Jesse Lingard after his unsuccessful trial at the club as he will not be able to be registered as an Al-Ettifaq player until January, according to The Mirror.
The newspaper shared via their website on 14 October that Saudi Pro League rules state clubs can only register eight foreign players, and Al-Ettifaq have ten on their books, which would become 11 with Lingard.
This news comes following Lingard’s decision to move to the Saudi Arabian club despite having been training with West Ham at Rush Green, where the club provided him with accommodation and a personal chauffeur.
The club, managed by Steven Gerrard, would have to shift players in January if they want to register Lingard to feature in their league fixtures, despite him playing in a friendly for them this week, in which he scored.
There is nothing to say they wouldn’t be able to offer him a deal regardless of the registration, but it seems it would be a waste of money if they were to pay him just to feature in training and friendly games while watching the competitive fixtures from the stands.
Besides, if they were to offer him a deal, the thought is they already would have. Lingard will now have to wait until the new year before he can feature in competitive fixtures, whereas if he had swallowed his pride and earned himself redemption at West Ham he could be playing a role already.
David Moyes’ comments in the wake of Lingard’s decision suggested the club weren’t too keen on keeping him around anyway, as the boss admitted to being comfortable and relaxed with his choice as he likely would’ve struggled for minutes in East London anyway.
In other West Ham news, a club director has claimed the Hammers turned down the chance of signing a big-name player.