The Athletic have kicked off deadline day with some very interesting claims on Jesse Lingard, suggesting he’ll make one last push to join Newcastle United this morning.
David Ornstein writes that the 29-year-old is set to meet with Ralf Rangnick in the next hour or two in a bid to force through a loan move to St James’ Park.
It’s believed he spoke with the German at the club’s training ground on Sunday and will hold crunch talks this morning, hoping the former RB Leipzig boss can convince Man Utd chiefs to reduce their demands.
This comes after we tried and failed to agree a loan package with the decision makers at Old Trafford, with it widely reported that they are demanding a £12m ‘survival bonus’ to be paid on top of a £2.5m loan fee.
The Athletic reveal that Newcastle are willing to be ‘flexible’ on those numbers, saying a ‘dose of late optimism’ has emerged as we seek a late compromise.
Lingard is believed to be very keen on the move – he’s played just 89 minutes of Premier League football all season – and personal terms are expected to be a ‘formality’ if Man Utd do agree to reduce their demands.
Given the impact he had at West Ham this time last year, this really would be a brilliant piece of deadline day business.
Fingers crossed, folks!
