By CandH’s northern man Terry Robbins
Manchester United’s hopes of using Jesse Lingard as an add on in a player plus cash deal which would send the player to Spurs looks doomed to failure.
A possible Harry Kane move to Old Trafford hinges on Lingard agreeing to a Spurs deal and Manchester United sources have revealed the Reds can’t get close to the £150m valuation being touted for his signature this summer.
Their second problem is that rivals Manchester City are said to be Kane’s preferred destination and given that any club in the world will be interested, he could easily end up at the Etihad.
United can only offer £70 million in a cash-strapped game right now plus Lingard and winger Anthony Martial.
United’s third problem is that Lingard is keen to be as first team regular after his shocking United experience before joining the Hammers and he will certainly achieve that at West Ham rather than at their north London rivals.
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has refused to rule out making a bid for Kane and our sources in Manchester have told us Lingard is on a list of names the club view as a potential makeweight and whom he considers worth £30 million..
We were told : “United value Jesse at around £30m and will sit down with him over the spring Bank holiday. They are very interested in Kane but need to raise funds to do all their business.
“Tottenham have liked Lingard previously, so his name is being touted as a possible option to be included for any Kane package. It remains to be seen if Jesse would entertain north London, though.”
Any club is likely to be very cautious about considering Lingard a £30 million player at his age given he has only one year left on his deal anyway so United’s hopes look to be resting on optimism rather than reality.