Newcastle United look set to put to bed any hope of signing Jesse Lingard from Manchester United this summer after pulling out of the race to sign him due to his high wage demands.
The 29-year-old was wanted by the Magpies in the January transfer window on a loan deal until the end of the season, but Eddie Howe ’s side were unwilling to pay the £16 million loan fee demanded by the Red Devils.
Lingard will become a free agent at the end of the season upon the expiry of his Man Utd contract, but Newcastle have now reportedly scrapped any plans of a transfer this summer due to the player’s high wage demands not fitting into their financial structure.
As reported by the Telegraph, Newcastle will refuse to sign Lingard as the England international is demanding in excess of £150,000-a-week, plus a huge signing-on fee. This would make him the highest paid player at St. James’ Park, which the club aren’t keen on for someone who turns 30 at the end of the year.
As well as this, the attacking midfielder has made just eight Premier League appearances under Ralf Rangnick at Old Trafford in 2022, with the majority of those coming from the bench, which makes the Magpies less inclined to offer him such a lucrative deal to move north. Had he joined on loan in January and endured a successful spell on Tyneside, things may have been different.
Newcastle are also keen to reduce the average age of their playing squad, following the signings of experienced professionals in Kieran Trippier (31), Chris Wood (30) and Dan Burn (30) at the start of the year to aid them in the fight for survival, which they have now achieved. Lingard (29), would only add to that.
Where do you expect Jesse Lingard to end up this summer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Considering Lingard was supposedly keen on a move to the north east in January, it is a shame that he is preferring to remain stubborn over his wage demands rather than match that same mentality he showed at the start of the year. The Man Utd man could thrive under Howe at the club.
He had enjoyed a highly successful loan spell under David Moyes at West Ham United last season, in which he recorded nine goals and five assists in 16 games at the London Stadium, as the Hammers secured Europa League football with a sixth-placed finish.
Howe does want to sign another wide forward before the start of next season and has been keen to strike a deal to bring the England international to St. James’ Park, but the interest in Lingard appears to be over after the midfielder has priced himself out of a move to the club, meaning he will have to look elsewhere.
With Newcastle looking to implement a transfer policy that involves signing younger players and developing them for the future, it can be expected that they will aim for someone who is below Lingard’s age, and with the money they have at hand, a marquee signing could be likely.
However, the club’s hierarchy remain intent on offloading a number of players this summer as they look to axe up to 10 members of the first team squad to help clear their wage bill, as well as provide some extra funds to go towards their transfer budget to help secure top signings.
Fringe members of their squad, such as Matt Ritchie, Ciaran Clark, Karl Darlow, Fedrico Fernandez, Isaac Hayden, Jeff Hendrick and Dwight Gayle will all be able to leave if they can find another club and are expected to be transfer listed at the end of the campaign.
