An insight into Tottenham’s stance on signing Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard has been provided.
Tottenham to wait to sign Lingard
Reports emerged on Tuesday that Tottenham were interested in signing Jesse Lingard.
The midfielder is currently still on the books of Manchester United, but is struggling for any sort of regular game time.
Lingard had made eight Premier League appearances this term, but not one of those outings latested longer than 24 minutes, with the remaining seven all under the 20-minute mark.
So, with Lingard out of contract in June, Tottenham signing the 29-year-old for a cut-price fee would make sense, especially if he is able to perform at a similar level to the one he was at during his West Ham loan stint last year.
Now, though, the Evening Standard are reporting that Tottenham are happy to wait until the summer to make their move for Lingard:
Tottenham are happy to wait until the summer to make their move for Jesse Lingard.
The midfielder is a long-term target for Spurs, who have tried to sign him once before.
✍️ @JackRosser_, @Dan_KPhttps://t.co/YZ4shk2m1k
— Standard Sport (@standardsport) January 12, 2022
Why Tottenham’s Lingard stance could backfire
With Lingard set to be a free agent, waiting till the summer could save Spurs some money.
But their happiness to wait until the summer and not force a move now could backfire for a number of reasons.
Firstly, if Lingard is allowed to become a free agent, he will no doubt have more suitors in the summer as he will not cost a transfer fee.
This would, in turn, likely stop Tottenham from being able to offer Lingard the biggest contract as someone like Newcastle, who have been linked of late, could easily hand him more money in the summer. And, if they survive relegation, the Magpies would likely become a much more attractive option given the financial backing they now have.
At the moment, though, there is a lot more uncertainty around Newcastle’s survival hopes, which makes them a less attractive destination at present for big names.
Elsewhere, if Tottenham do not sign Lingard in January, it could cost them a spot in the Europa League or maybe even the Champions League.
Tanguy Ndombele and Dele Alli are two of Spurs’ main creative midfielders right now, but both are seriously out of form.
And if Tottenham opt not to improve on them until the summer, it could easily blow up in their face regarding Europe.
West Ham showed in 2020/21 what an impact Lingard can have, with the United man’s contributions playing a huge role in the Hammers finishing 5th. Could Lingard not signing for Spurs in January have the opposite impact?
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