Nottingham Forest lead West Ham in race for former Man Utd star Lingard
Robin Bairner
- 20 Jul 2022 08:53 BST
- 3 min read
Confirmed
Nottingham Forest have positioned themselves to beat West Ham to the signing of Jesse Lingard, FootballTransfers can confirm.
England international winger Lingard left Manchester United at the end of June following the end of his contract at Old Trafford.
It is FootballTransfers’ understanding that Forest have stepped up their interest in recent days and are now frontrunners in the race to sign Lingard.
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Available on a free transfer, the 29-year-old is hot property for many mid-table Premier League clubs, particularly after a fruitful loan spell with the Hammers at the end of the 2020/21 season. During that six-month burst, he scored nine league goals in 16 appearances, making it the best campaign of his career in terms of scoring to date.
This fuelled talk of a move to West Ham from Man Utd last summer, but nothing materialised, and while there were fresh rumours of Lingard moving to David Moyes’ side in January, again nothing came of it.
Forest seeking to sign SIX more
West Ham were thought to be the front runners for Lingard’s signature this summer, but they face fresh competition from Premier League new-boys Nottingham Forest, who are seeking to strengthen their squad for the season ahead.
The City Ground outfit are in the midst of an ambitious summer transfer window, in which they have already snapped up eight players, including Bundesliga trio Taiwo Awoniyi, Moussa Niakhate and Omar Richards. Among their other additions are Wales internationals Neco Williams from Liverpool and Wayne Hennessey from Burnley.
England goalkeeper Dean Henderson has already arrived on loan from Manchester United.
We are told that they will look to bring in at least six more players this summer, with an overhaul of the midfield and another first-team striker being a must.
Lingard, meanwhile, would be their highest-profile acquisition to date, with the attacker having spent the last decade at Man Utd, where he played over 230 first-team games for the Old Trafford club, scoring 35 goals.
Competition for the 32-time capped England star, though, is naturally intense. It is our understanding, however, that Forest are in the driving seat to complete a deal for Lingard, despite his previous links to West Ham and the European football that they could offer him.
