West Ham United have turned their attention to Jesse Lingard after their ambition to sign Villarreal’s Arnaut Danjuma hit a stumbling block.
According to the Guardian:
"The club have held talks with Villarreal about Danjuma, with €40m (£34.5m) plus add-ons potentially enough to land the Dutch winger, but the deal is now in doubt.West Ham have not agreed personal terms with the 25-year-old and various complications mean they are ready to move on to other attacking targets."
Jesse Lingard impressed on loan at the London Stadium in 2021, where he scored 9 goals and got 5 assists in 16 appearances.
The Guardian added that:
"Moyes is pushing to sign him but other clubs are interested in the attacking midfielder and West Ham could need the 29-year-old to lower his wage demands.”"
The form Lingard showed in his last spell as a Hammer earned him a recall to the England squad, being named in the provisional squad for Euro 2020, but was put on standby when the final squad was announced. If the player moves back to West Ham and shows the form he did in his first spell, then Gareth Southgate could be tempted to think about him as an option for the Qatar World Cup.
West Ham are still waiting on a decision from Jesse Lingard with the club hopeful he will sign 📝
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) June 30, 2022
Should Jesse Lingard return to West Ham? ⚒️ pic.twitter.com/K99VGjrifZ
Is West Ham in Need of Jesse Lingard’s Quality
Lingard’s form for West Ham helped them qualify for the Europa League. Without him the last runout, they had to settle for the Europa Conference League. The East Londoners could do with him to help them get back into the Europa League or even challenge for a Champions League place.
The Irons’ fans have fond memories of the former United player’s time at the club, even given a warm welcome when he returned to the club with Manchester United last season. In a thrilling encounter at the London Stadium, Lingard ended up scoring the winner in the 88th minute for the Red Devils.
Manchester United finished above West Ham by just two points, which got them a Europa League place at the Hammers’ expense. Lingard played just 16 times in his final season at Old Trafford. There is no doubting that if he had been at West Ham last season they would have finished higher up the table.
Instead, he had to make do with sitting on United’s bench during his final season at the club. He was left frustrated under both managers, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, for not giving him a proper chance to prove himself after being 20 years at the club.
He is still only 29 and needs to be playing a lot more regularly than he has been at Old Trafford. West Ham needs to strengthen their attacking options as they embark on another season with European football.
In East London, he would join a side where the fans love him, a manager who trusts him, and a team he knows he can perform well for.