Newcastle United could make another attempt to sign Jesse Lingard when he becomes a free agent this summer, according to Sky Sports News’ Pete Graves.
The lowdown
Newcastle tried to sign the 29-year-old on January’s transfer deadline day, only for Manchester United to block the move. The Magpies had offered to stump up a loan fee, cover the entirety of the player’s £75,000-per-week wages and pay a survival bonus, but to no avail.
Man United appear to have missed their last opportunity to cash in on Lingard, whose contract expires in June, after he had been one of countless reported targets for PIF and Newcastle last month.
The latest
Graves took to Twitter on Monday evening to announce that any hopes Newcastle had of signing Lingard before the 11pm deadline were extinguished, but he added that there is a possibility of the Magpies revisiting their interest during next summer’s transfer window.
The journalist tweeted: “Jesse Lingard to #nufc is OFF. #mufc told him he won’t be allowed to leave. Understand he’s extremely disappointed. Newcastle had offered loan fee, full wages and a survival bonus. He will leave for a free in the summer. Expect Newcastle, West Ham and Spurs to all be in for him.”
The verdict
Keeping Lingard at Old Trafford feels like a tremendous waste of talent. The 29-year-old is clearly well down the pecking order, having only played 88 minutes of Premier League football this season, and Man United are seemingly going to lose their £18m-rated asset for nothing in the summer.
They really ought to have sold him last year off the back of his dazzling loan spell at West Ham, where he scored nine goals and provided five assists in 16 games.
Newcastle may be frustrated to have missed out this time, but they could ultimately be the beneficiaries of the Red Devils’ questionable decision-making if they can land Lingard on a free transfer in a few months’ time.
In other news, Newcastle held talks over this Belgian star on Monday