Newcastle United ‘aren’t giving up’ hope of signing Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard, The Chronicle’s Lee Ryder writes, revealing Eddie Howe is a huge admirer.
The lowdown
Newcastle’s efforts to sign Lingard during the January transfer window continued until Deadline Day.
They offered to pay a fee to take him on loan in addition to covering the entirety of the player’s £75,000-per-week salary.
But Manchester United’s board blocked the move, even after interim manager Ralf Rangnick had given Lingard permission to leave, and that left the player ‘extremely disappointed’.
But The Red Devils may be powerless to stop him leaving at the end of the season, when his contract is due to expire.
The latest
Ryder sets out ‘Howe’s stance’ on Twitter and in his article for The Chronicle, as the manager said: “Jesse Lingard is a player I have always admired.”
He says Howe has indicated that Newcastle ‘will be in the hunt’ once again come the summer.
If the Magpies survive and Lingard decides to run down his contract, ‘he could be an intriguing free transfer’.
The verdict
Lingard on a free would be a superb bit of business. He showed on loan at West Ham last season, where he scored nine goals and provided five assists in 16 appearances, that he can be explosive in the right environment. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer even called him ‘brilliant’ after that temporary stint.
What’s more, in Transfermarkt’s estimation, he’s an £18million player, so to get him for nothing would be an incredible coup.
The problem for Newcastle, of course, is that they may not be the only club in the running.
Indeed, as recently as last Sunday, sports journalist Pete O’Rourke told Give Me Sport that the Hammers would ‘definitely’ be in the mix for the signing.
If, as you’d expect, Lingard looks back fondly on his time in London, they may have a key advantage.
In other news, Liam Kennedy reacts to ‘big’ news coming out of SJP.
