Transfer News: Fulham target Manchester United star Jesse Lingard for a summer move
According to Rudy Galetti, the sports editor of Sportitalia on Twitter (h/t Manchester Evening News), Fulham have identified Manchester United star Jesse Lingard as a transfer target as they plan to facilitate a potential move for him this summer. He is set to leave Old Trafford at the end of this season after being at the club since his childhood.
Lingard is nearing the end of this current contract with the Red Devils, and he is expected to depart in the summer transfer window. West Ham United have already expressed an interest in securing his services, and they are one of the frontrunners to win this pursuit.
However, the Hammers will now have to deal with added competition from Marco Silva’s side for the Englishman after this term. The latter is set to enter the transfer race as they look to make a surprising attempt to sign Lingard for free this summer.
What a terrible end
It is disappointing to see how the situation surrounding the 29-year-old has unravelled this campaign. The attacking midfielder was on the back of an impressive season with West Ham, but unfortunately, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did not depend upon the attacker despite his successful loan spell.
More recently, the Manchester club opted against giving a farewell to the Premier League ace, which shows how bleak the relationship has turned out to be towards the latter stages of his time with us. His brother also openly lashed out at Ralf Rangnick for not giving the attacking midfielder an outing on Monday.
It was a mistake on Man United’s part for proving to be tough negotiators when Newcastle United tried to sign Lingard back in January. Perhaps, we should have allowed him to leave and earn a decent sum for his transfer in the process.
We could have at least earned some funds and cut our costs with the Red Devils ace. That seems to be a far better decision in hindsight, even if Lingard has played some minutes since the failed attempt from Newcastle in the winter transfer window.
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With the Cottagers now entering the race, we hope that they can get their hands on the England international ahead of David Moyes’s side. After all, the latter is our direct competitor, and we would not want them to get strengthened with Lingard’s addition this summer.
Then again, we must be wary of that possibility, considering how the prospect of returning to a club where he enjoyed a solid time could be much better than joining a newly promoted team. Then again, the race is still open even if West Ham are among the favourites as of now.
