West Ham agree loan deal for Jesse Lingard with Manchester United

[ASFN Admin]

West Ham have finally agreed a deal with Manchester United to loan Jesse Lingard until the end of the season. Lingard, 28, had been eager to secure a move this month in a bid to kickstart his career after falling down the pecking order at Old Trafford. It is understood West Ham will pay a loan fee of around £1.5m for the England midfielder and cover his £100,000 a week wages. There is no option for West Ham to buy Lingard at the end of the season as part of the arrangement. Concerned about squad numbers being depleted by the threat of a coronavirus outbreak, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had been keen to keep Lingard in Manchester. But the Manchester United manager was also mindful of Lingard’s desperation to play and recognised his chances of that at Old Trafford would be limited if he maintained a full squad. West Ham manager David Moyes is hoping Lingard’s arrival will give his side’s European push added impetus. Having played a key role in England’s progress to the World Cup semi finals in 2018, Lingard’s career has stalled in the period since, with his situation complicated by difficulties in his personal life. Lingard had offers from a series of Premier League clubs and from overseas but he was keen to stay in England, in part to be closer to his family and young daughter. Speaking at the weekend, Solskjaer said: "I will sit with Jesse and make a decision on what we are going to do. So far he’s always been the ultimate professional, he always trains, he trained well this morning with a small group who were not in the squad. So I will sit down and speak with him again and see if anything comes up. I’m happy to have Jesse in and around us because I know he could have come in today and done well." The midfielder is thought to be excited about the prospect of joining an upwardly mobile West Ham side, who are firmly in the mix for Champions League qualification at the halfway stage of the campaign.

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