Manchester United are reportedly keen on using West Ham’s interest in Jesse Lingard as leverage in their pursuit of midfielder Declan Rice.
Lingard joined the Hammers back in January and has been far and away their best player since. While Rice and Tomas Soucek (not forgetting Craig Dawson) were previously leading West Ham’s unlikely charge for the Champions League, Lingard is now the man making the headlines.
MORE: (Scenes) A naked pitch invader just ran across the pitch during Granada – Man Utd
Regardless of whether David Moyes’ men are able to cling onto fourth spot, they will surely be looking to keep Lingard around, considering how much he has contributed to the cause over the past few months.
As per The Athletic, Manchester United are well aware of that fact, and are prepared to use Lingard in their efforts to convince West Ham to sell England international Declan Rice to them this summer.
The report claims that Ed Woodward is set to offer upwards of Lingard’s £25M asking price, while Moyes has insisted it would take an astronomical sum to convince West Ham into selling Rice.
The stars could be aligning here for United, but ultimately it will come down to offering a package deal attractive enough to tempt West Ham into letting go of Rice, which will be no easy task.