Lingard trains with Hammers

It seems David Moyes just can't keep away from his ex. The Guardian reports that Jesse Lingard is training with West Ham for fitness and there is a chance WHU would offer him a contract. Hopefully Jesse is being served with large slices of humble pie in the club canteen. He was a great signing on loan at West Ham three seasons ago, but at 30 is his fitness, form and commitment still there? His move to Forest for more money was a mistake, so perhaps Lingard now realises he should have signed for the Hammers. Moyes will have to examine his attitude very carefully, but on a free a committed Lingard could be a decent signing.

Meanwhile the Harry Maguire move has stalled, with Maguire reportedly wanting £7 million  to leave Man United. This isn't a good sign as he doesn't seem that desperate to join us and the club are right to threaten to pull out of the deal unless it happens soon.

Bye bye Jesse

So Jesse Lingard has taken the money (close to £200k a week is being reported) and signed for Nottingham Forest. In the process he's mugged off David Moyes who has pursued him for three transfer windows and now looks like a dumped Love Island contestant. 

In a way it's a relief. It was increasingly obvious Jesse wasn't desperate to play for West Ham as the window went on — if he did he would have been keen to sign as soon as the window opened. The club made a great offer of a reported £150k a week but it was never worth breaking the wage structure for a player who turns 30 in December. Even Newcastle refused to contemplate Lingard's wage demands.

And would he have repeated the fantastic form he showed during his loan spell? Back then he had something to prove to Man United. It could be Forest will regret paying such huge wages if things don't start well — and remember he's missed pre-season and Lingard couldn't get in a struggling United side last season. Time has been wasted, but West Ham might now be able to use the money to buy a young, hungry striker. Remember strikers, they were big in the Seventies?

West Ham can't pay Lingard silly money

If Jesse Lingard was on Love Island he'd be one of those contestants who flirts with everyone while taking the whole series to make a commitment. If Nottingham Forest are prepared, as reported in the Daily Mail, to pay him close to £200,000 a week (though a lot of this may be add-ons) then good luck to them. There's no way West Ham can pay him more than Rice and Bowen and we've seen the problems of players on long-term contracts with high-wages who underperform — Yarmolenko was on £120k a week and never justified that level of expenditure, while Wilshere and Anderson also cost the club a lot in wages. 

The whole Lingard saga has dragged on too long — he's had the whole of last season and now this summer to think about his future. Yes, he was fantastic in his loan spell, he has to consider all options and it's a short career, but does Lingard want to maximise his wages or go where the football opportunities are best? He's guaranteed European football and a decent side at West Ham whereas Forest could be involved in a relegation struggle. He's also been considering offers from the US and Saudi Arabia according to the press. He either wants to play for West Ham or he doesn't. There are other targets out there and Lingard has already missed half the pre-season. As my WHU pal Lisa's favourite band Bucks Fizz might have put it, it's time for making your mind up, Jesse.

Jesse tries NFL

Let's hope West Ham aren't gazumped by LA Rams in the race for Jesse Lingard. The ex-loan star has been visiting the Super Bowl winners LA Rams and trying his arm at NFL. He caught up with linebacker Justin Hollins and tested his various NFL skills including throwing, catching and defending. Hopefully he might be perfecting his contract-signing skills too when his LA jaunt is over.

It's good to talk

Some interesting quotes from Jesse Lingard last week. Jesse revealed that when he was getting a lift with Mark Noble and Aaron Cresswell he took his phone out in the car but was immediately told by Nobes to put it away as at West Ham the players talk to each other. 

Lingard told the Players Tribune: “On the plane, I would normally whack the headphones on and listen to music, but Nobes and the rest of the guys wouldn’t stand for it.It was like that everywhere at West Ham, proper conversations about everything. No phones, no social media. No more mm-hmm. If we were having dinner at a hotel, we’d stay down there for ages just talking. It helped us bond as a team, and personally, it helped me a lot.” 

Could this be the secret of West Ham's recent success? It's simply that the players have become good mates.

Is Lingard West Ham's best ever impact signing?

It's hard to think of a West Ham signing who has had a bigger instant impact than Jesse Lingard. The only person who comes close in terms of goals and assists is Paul Kitson, still the only striker my pal Nigel has seen score a hat-trick without West Ham winning (in a 4-4 draw at Charlton). The signings of Kitson and Paul Hartson by Harry Redknapp in 1997 certainly had a massive impact in taking West Ham out of the relegation zone. 

More recently Dimitri Payet also had a massive impact when he joined the Irons in 2015. He certainly inspired the side to their seventh-placed finish (and it should have been higher), although his early games included home defeats by Bournemouth and Leicester. Even Paolo Di Canio had a fairly slow start as he came back to match fitness after a long suspension for pushing over ref Paul Alcock when with Sheffield Wednesday.

Looking further Frank McAvennie and to a lesser extent Mark Ward were the signings that propelled West Ham to their best ever finish of third place in 1986. While in 1975 Alan Taylor signed from Rochdale and scored a brace in the FA Cup quarter-final, the semi final and the Final against Fulham.

But it's hard to argue that anyone has had a bigger impact in goals and assists than Lingard. Let's hope there's more to come at Newcastle today.

Lingard signs

Well, Jesse Lingard has signed on loan for the rest of the season which seems a risk-free proposition for both sides, and the Hammers have now signed Benrahma permanently for £26m to free up a loan space. 

WHU still need another striker, but what will appeal to Moyes about Lingard is his versatility. He can play on either flank or as a number 10 and Moyes even thinks he could do a job as a false nine — he did once score four goals on his loan debut for Birmingham City against Sheffield Wednesday. Bringing on Lingard for Bowen, Fornals or Benrahma at the end of games would certainly be an upgrade on Yarmolenko. 

There's always a risk signing players from Man United who are on the way down, but Lingard seems to be a solid character and has done well during loan periods for Derby, Leicester, Birmingham, Brighton and Derby. Moyes also has a good record of reviving payers from Old Trafford like Tim Howard, Phil Neville and Louis Saha. 

The big incentive for Lingard is that if he does well he might become part of Ole Gunnar Solksjaer's plans again, though having only played three games this season it's going to take him time to reach full match fitness.

But having scored  45 goals in 260 games - including FA Cup Final and Europa League Final strikes– he should provide more goals than our other midfielders. Lets hope this one comes off. 

Is Lingard what the Hammers need?

There's a lot of paper talk about West Ham signing Jesse Lingard. He'd be a strange signing when what the squad needs is a second striker, but presumably he'd take the place of Lanzini and be a decent player to bring off the bench. If he's a loan deal then it's relatively risk-free although West Ham would have to buy outright one of Benrahma and Dawson to free up a loan deal — and that would be no bad thing. 

Moyes knows Lingard from his time at Old Trafford, but the fear is that when players leave United they are usually on the way down. There seem to have been mitigating circumstances for Lingard's collapse in form, his mother was suffering from depression and he was left to look after his two younger siblings. He's also become a dad having had a child with a fitness model, as footballers are wont to do. So quite a lot has been going on with his private life. 

Perhaps Moyes can help get his career back on track. Lingard has scored in an FA Cup Final and Europa League Final and has 23 England caps, so the potential is still there at 28.

Meanwhile the sacking of Frank Lampard at Chelsea is good news for West Ham. The Athletic claims that Frank was starting to annoy his bosses by requesting a move for Rice. They were reluctant to sanction an £80m move for a player they gave away from their academy. New boss Thomas Tuchel is unlikely to be so obsessed with getting one payer. 

It's been quite a week. Big Fat Frank has gone, West Ham have gone up to fourth and Jack Wilshere has scored for Bournemouth. Strange days indeed.