Jesse's joy: Jesse Lingard's fine form has propelled West Ham into fourth in the Premier League
Jesse's joy: Jesse Lingard's fine form has propelled West Ham into fourth in the Premier League POOL / Laurence Griffiths

Jesse Lingard has been doing great for West Ham United, and the Hammers are expected to pull strings to take him in permanently.

Manchester United is pretty much open to that, but the problem is that West Ham may not be the only team taking interest in the 28-year-old midfielder.

There is also the possibility of Lingard heading back to Old Trafford if a new deal with West Ham falls through, assuming that they have the financial capacity to afford him.

If that doesn’t work, the Red Devils are aware that multiple teams could come to swoop in and meet the $43 million fee for the English player.

Considering his fine showing, it won’t be surprising to see other teams trying to jump the gun on Lingard.

West Ham would love to take him back, but their UEFA Champions League debacle could push Lingard to head back to Old Trafford and weigh his options.

Should that be the case, West Ham United may have to resort to other means. One possible scenario would be to offer Declan Rice, someone that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has had his eyes on.

But the only problem seen there is that the 22-year-old is valued way higher than Lingard, somewhere in the vicinity of $141 million.

Hence, it seems like a longshot that the Hammers would relax their asking fee for Rice just to take in Lingard.

Lingard could be used as a make-shift weight to get the deal done. Assuming that the numbers remain the same, seeing deal progress is not looking pretty good.

Like most teams, Manchester United is also trying to manage its finances as well--with the pandemic still a problem.

West Ham midfielder Jesse Lingard celebrates scoring against Leicester

West Ham midfielder Jesse Lingard celebrates scoring against Leicester Photo: POOL / John Walton

Tottenham could be another team that may explore a deal for Lingard. Harry Kane is someone who has been linked to the Red Devils although chairman Daniel Levy is reportedly not keen on the deal.

The Hotspur top brass is not coy about selling any player to an English Premier League team.

Aside from that, Manchester United may back off from the hefty asking price of $212 million for the 27-year-old striker.

Kane made it clear that he wants to sever his ties with Tottenham, and there are several clubs linked to the English footballer.

Aside from Manchester United, also in the mix are Manchester City and Chelsea.