By Hughie Southon
David Moyes still has Jesse Lingard on his wanted list this January.
We understand that the usual talks between agents are continuing with a view to bringing the Manchester United attacking midfielder to the London Stadium.
However, with Old Trafford boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on apparently thin ice at the club, a new manager appointment may stall things as the player considers his chances of more playing time under a new boss.
That could be Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers who was reported to be interested in taking the player at the same time as David Moyes agreed a loan deal with him.
However, Jesse will need to be assured of more playing time if he is to have a real chance of World Cup football and could now look at Stratford as his next obvious destination.
United are reported to want around £10 million for him but that could slip even further in negotiations with the player and his agent holding the whip hand given he is out of contract next summer.
Nikola Vlasic – bought for £18 million as an alternative to Lingard – has failed to shine since his arrival which may be prompting Moyes to return for a favourite player.
I can see why all this is potentially true but I have also heard that Moyes is going after young players so I am not sure if the interest in him is as much as some people are making out it to be. We dodged some big bullets during the summer in Lingard, Abraham and Nketieh so I would see no point in paying 10m for Lingard and giving him a contract in excess of 100k a week. Yes he played well for us last season but in case we have not noticed we are actially doing even better without him this season and I think it is time to trust players liek Benrahma, Lanzini and Vlasic. I would be happy to see him back on loan for the rest of the season as cover but thats all, anything else would be not good – he will not repeat what he did last season.
Well said johnham, I agree with the points you’ve made. In addition I don’t want any players who regard us as a fall-back option, Lingard and Tarkowski being 2 recent examples. You had your chances Gents, both thought you could do better and have fallen flat on your faces – unlucky, all the best for the future.
Lingard didn’t get a choice. Man Utd told Moyes that Lingard was going nowhere so not to bother putting a bid in for him in the summer transfer window. If no bid was made by our club how could Lingard have turned us down?
I strenuously disagree with both of you. Jesse Lingard is a class act. How he performed for us last season came as no surprise to me. Lingard fits in well with our squad and Moyes’ style and Benrahma improved in the last few months playing alongside him. We’re yet to find out if Vlasic and Kral can gel as much as Lingard did. I’m confident that Moyes will get him man in the New Year.
100% agree Trevor.