Jesse Lingard is in advanced talks with Nottingham Forest as the Premier League new boys look to beat West Ham in the race for the midfielder.
Lingard left his boyhood club Manchester United in the summer and is free to pick his next destination - which many believed would be the Hammers. The England international enjoyed a renaissance whilst on loan at the London Stadium the season before last.
His impact left a lasting impression on those at West Ham, but his performances were not enough to warrant him more game time in Manchester. But now it's Forest in pole position to secure his signature as discussions continue.
The Guardian reports that West Ham now believe they will miss out on a permanent swoop for Lingard. Lingard is looking for a pay packet of around £180,000-a-week and Forest are reportedly throwing big money at the 29-year-old to take him to the City Ground.
West Ham have taken their time over negotiations having prioritised a number of other targets, and that could now cost them with the player seemingly making a U-turn over moves to both the London Stadium and the United States in favour of Forest.
Forest have already underlined their ambitions following their play-off victory several months ago. Manchester United's Dean Henderson has joined on loan. The goalkeeper, who has been capped by England, was tipped to challenge David de Gea at Old Trafford, but that never happened and he's looking for regular minutes to get his career back on track.
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Forest boss Steve Cooper has urged the club to continue acting in the transfer market as they look to bolster their options and prepare their squad for the top flight. When quizzed on further transfer activity: "I really hope so. There's no doubt we need it.
"As we've spoken about before, there was always going to be a turnaround with the squad, because of the make-up of the squad last year, in terms of loans. In some areas, I think we've done really well and strengthened. In other areas, it's been slow - and we've got to change that quickly.
"Of course we need more players to come in, there's no doubt about that. That's slowed down a little bit, and we've got to make sure that doesn't stay like that for too long.”
If West Ham do miss out on Lingard then David Moyes may look to pursue Blackburn Rovers hitman Ben Brereton Díaz, who excelled in the Championship last term as he continues his push to land another centre-forward. Armando Broja, the Chelsea striker, is also a target.
