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?
