West Ham must not sign Jesse Lingard [Opinion]

In their haste to bring in new faces before the impending close of the January transfer window, the West Ham board would be ill-advised to be pressured into sanctioning a deal for Jesse Lingard.

According to a report from The Times, the Irons are set to bring the out-of-favour Manchester United man to the London Stadium.

On the surface, the details of the report look promising. An experienced 28-year-old World Cup semi-finalist seeing a fresh start in the Premier League, a happy parent club and a destination all-too-happy to see him are symptoms of a good deal.

Hammers boss David Moyes has even worked with Lingard before. Then an academy youngster, he scored the first goal of the West Ham manager’s reign at Old Trafford in 2013 during a pre-season tour in Australia.

However, Lingard’s playing record makes for ugly reading – especially in recent years. He has made just three appearances this season and has seen his value plummet as a consequence.

Indeed, Lingard has only managed to score 33 goals in 210 senior appearances for the Red Devils – a ratio of less than one in every four games.

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When the competition is factored in, it is hard to see what Lingard offers that the likes of Pablo Fornals, Jarrod Bowen, Manuel Lanzini and Said Benrahma do not.

Bowen, for example, has five goals in just under 20 league outings for the Hammers despite operating mostly on the right flank in a less central channel than Lingard’s preferred position.

Although Manchester United have activated an option to extend his contract by a year, this is believed to be for one sole purpose: to preserve market value. This has the potential to squeeze more funds from the West Ham board.

From a financial sense, there is little to be lost in the proposed six-month loan deal – but Lingard has a major uphill battle to prove he still has something to offer in the Premier League.