Jesse Lingard’s transfer fee could rocket to £40m as West Ham face missing out on Man Utd loanee in summer
WEST HAM could miss out on signing Jesse Lingard — because they failed to put a ‘buy’ clause in his loan deal.
Manchester United were ready to offload Lingard for as little as £20million this summer when they agreed to let the attacker play for the Hammers.
But his form since then — scoring five in seven appearances — has seen him rocket back into contention for a place in England’s Euros squad.
And that is now forcing United bosses to consider almost doubling the price.
That causes a problem for West Ham because they were unable to secure a guaranteed option to make his loan deal permanent during negotiations.
And if his fee climbs towards £40m, it may be too much for them to pay.
There is hope that the 28-year-old has enjoyed himself so much at the London Stadium that he tells United he wants to make the move there on a full-time basis.
But Lingard will have little control on any fee United demand.
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West Ham boss David Moyes said: “I’m sure at this moment in time we will say yes, we’d love to have Jesse, because of how well he’s doing.
“But we’ve still got nine games to go to judge and assess Jesse, just like United will have a period to think about do they want to sell or keep him?
“That would be a decision we would all need to get to but, no, there’s nothing in place at the moment.”
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