Manchester United have dropped their valuation of midfielder Jesse Lingard, according to reports. The 28-year-old is back at the club following his dazzling loan spell at West Ham, where he scored nine goals and assisted a further four in just 16 appearances for the Hammers.
Lingard was also included in Gareth Southgate’s provisional 33-man squad for last summer’s European Championship but narrowly missed out on a spot in the final selection.
The last transfer window was dominated by speculation over Lingard’s future but with only one year remaining on his contract, he ended up staying at Old Trafford amid the club’s high valuation.
According to The Sun, Manchester United have now dropped their valuation to just £10m – less than half of what they were demanding just a couple of months ago.
As per the report, United are now ready to sell Lingard in January if a club meets their £10m valuation, with West Ham said to be still interested in the midfielder.
Read more: Fabrizio Romano warns Man Utd star will leave in January if situation doesn’t change
SN’s verdict on Lingard’s potential exit…
There are a couple of players in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first-team squad who will be unhappy with their trajectory this season and Lingard is certainly one of them.
Amid the disastrous run United are currently on, Solskjaer seems to have favourites in his squad and Lingard is no closer to breaking that barrier between being on the sidelines and on the pitch.
Lingard has yet to start a single Premier League game this season, despite impressing in a series of substitute appearances. Lingard scored the winner at West Ham in September, found the net against West Ham, and assisted Cristiano Ronaldo’s crucial 95th-minute winner against Villarreal in the Champions League.
With a contract extension looking unlikely, a move away from Old Trafford in January is very much a realistic prospect for the England international.