West Ham United contract offer for Jesse Lingard ‘falls short’ of expectations
Jesse Lingard is still a target for West Ham, but their contract offer for the midfielder has fallen short of expectations according to The Mirror.
The former Hammers loanee is officially a free agent after his Manchester United contract expired at the turn of the month, and David Moyes is pushing hard to bring him back to the London Stadium.
But after making an offer to sign him permanently this summer it had been suggested that a deal was close [Daily Mail, June 25]. However a report on Sunday [July 3] claims that the offer is on the lower side of the player’s expectations and that has opened the door for other teams to get involved.
Tottenham, Everton and Newcastle are all keen to sign the player too, with the player’s representatives in ongoing talks with the Magpies as well as other interested parties.
But while Moyes is keen to sign Lingard, a deal is clearly not as straightforward as many had seemed and the Hammers may be forced to look elsewhere if they’re not willing to raise their offer.
Tight
For as long as this love affair between West Ham and Lingard has been going on, it seems to be becoming more and more one-sided the longer it drags out.
The club are clearly very interested in getting him in, and have been since the loan spell took place 18 months ago. But when he chose a return to the Manchester United bench over the London Stadium, some alarm bells should have started ringing.
Instead it’s persisted and the club could now miss out on signing him again as his demands become excessive because of a lack of transfer fee involved in the deal.
If the club can bring him in and he can bring goals to the side that Moyes needs then obviously it would be welcomed, but they must be wary of being taken for a ride and wasting too much time.
If they’ve decided however that a deal is a priority, then they need to stop being tight and just pay up to get it done and over the line.