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West Ham United are in pole position to clinch the signing of free agent Jesse Lingard, according to the Daily Mail’s Simon Jones. 

The lowdown

The 29-year-old is currently without a club after leaving Manchester United at the end of his contract. He memorably spent the second half of the 2020/21 season on loan at the London Stadium, playing 16 games in which he scored nine goals and provided five assists.

It looks like he may become the Hammers’ third signing of the summer after centre-back Nayef Aguerd joined from Rennes and goalkeeper Alphonse Areola made his loan move permanent.

Even though the Irons won’t have to fork out a transfer fee, it’s still fair to say Lingard won’t come cheap, with Football Insider claiming that he has asked for a wage of £150,000 per week.

The latest

The Daily Mail reported that Lingard is ‘ready’ to sign for West Ham and snub his other suitors, a list which also includes Everton and Tottenham Hotspur.

The midfielder ‘enjoyed’ his previous stint at the London Stadium and will be hoping to pick up where he left off if he does return to the Stratford venue.

The verdict

It would actually have been best for all parties had Lingard signed for West Ham last summer.

Manchester United would actually have banked a transfer fee for a player who is valued at £16.2m by Transfermarkt, rather than losing him for nothing this year, while the Hammers would have got their hands on a player who, as mentioned early, previously thrived in David Moyes’ side.

The 29-year-old ultimately spent much of the 2021/22 season watching on from the sidelines – indeed, he only played 355 top-flight minutes between August and May.

He bagged just two goals, one of which was ironically a late winner away to West Ham in September 2021. Fatefully, that went a long way towards the Red Devils pipping the Irons for sixth place in the final standings, consigning Moyes’ team to the Europa Conference League next season.

BBC Sport’s Shamon Hafez called it a ‘stunning’ goal, so the Hammers will be relieved to have Lingard back on their side if they can strike a deal for their former loanee.

The possibility of West Ham United signing Villarreal winger Arnaut Danjuma is ‘totally off the cards’, Daily Express journalist Ryan Taylor has claimed.

The Lowdown: Danjuma linked with West Ham

According to a report by 90min, the Hammers recently made an approach to sign the 25-year-old this summer. The report suggests that the Netherlands international could be available for around €40m (£34.5m), with the Irons now discussing a deal with the La Liga outfit.

It is understood that a move to the London Stadium would be of significant interest to the former Bournemouth attacker.

According to The Mirror, Danjuma has agreed personal terms with David Moyes’ side and a deal is expected to be completed this week.

The Latest: Taylor’s update

However, Taylor has emphatically dismissed the rumours linking Danjuma with a move to east London, sharing news that he has heard emerging out of West Ham.

Taking to Twitter, the journalist claimed: “No truth in claims Arnaut Danjuma has agreed personal terms with West Ham. In fact, my understanding is deal is totally off the cards. Not happening. Reports regarding player’s ‘temperament’ have not gone down well. #WHUFC”

The Verdict: Missing out

When looking at the Dutchman’s underlying statistics, it is easy to see why West Ham have been interested in making a move for the winger.

When compared with positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year, Danjuma ranks in the 93rd percentile for touches in the attacking penalty area and non-penalty expected goals per 90 minutes, and in the 85th percentile for progressive carries and dribbles completed (via FBRef).

Former Cherries manager Jonathan Woodgate has previously shared his admiration for the 25-year-old, describing him as an ‘exceptional player’, whilst former European Golden Shoe winner Kevin Phillips asserted that Danjuma is ‘a nightmare for defenders’.

With such obvious talent, it seems like West Ham are missing out on a potentially massive signing, which could end up haunting them at the end of the season given their sparsity of attacking options.

Aston Villa have already been rather busy in terms of their business in this summer’s transfer window.

In addition to securing permanent deals for former loanees Philippe Coutinho and Robin Olsen, the Midlands club have also brought in new faces in Diego Carlos and Boubacar Kamara.

Another name with whom the Villans have been linked this summer, and who Steven Gerrard knows very well, is Rangers centre-forward Alfredo Morelos.

After scoring 46 goals and delivering 13 assists in 62 appearances for HJK Helsinki, the 26-year-old joined the Scottish club five years ago.

Since then, the Colombian has found the net 113 times in 224 appearances for the Ibrox outfit. With 294 club career appearances to his name, the striker has 159 goals and 64 assists on his CV.

Taking this into account, it’s safe to say that Morelos – who has been described as being “brutally ruthless” on the pitch by HJK chief executive Aki Riihilahti – knows how to be a dangerous and consistent goalscorer.

Another club with whom Gerrard has a significant connection is fellow Premier League outfit Liverpool, who have been just as busy as Villa in terms of their summer transfer business.

In fact, the Reds recently caught the headlines by splashing out a club-record £85m to sign Darwin Nunez from Benfica. The fact that they chose to shell out such a significant sum of money to bring him to Anfield just goes to show how highly they rate the 23-year-old.

Having scored 67 goals in 138 club appearances, it’s easy to see why the Uruguayan has been included on a list of similar players to Morelos by Football Transfers.

With all this in mind, the prospect of linking up with Morelos once more and getting what could be his own version of Nunez at Villa Park would surely be an exciting prospect for Gerrard.

If the Villa manager can use his connections at Ibrox to help thrash out a deal which would see the Colombian move to England in the coming weeks, this could be a smart bit of business from the Midlands club.

Given his record of being able to score on a regular basis, the 26-year-old would certainly be a useful asset for Villa in front of goal.

In other news: Aston Villa now in the mix to sign “elegant” £106k-p/w machine, imagine him & Carlos

Aston Villa are reportedly fearful of losing promising teenager Carney Chukwuemeka, with the midfielder attracting interest from a number of elite clubs.

What’s the word?

According to talkSPORT, there is a ‘growing belief’ among those at Villa Park that they could lose the 18-year-old starlet this summer, with the England U19 international yet to extend his existing deal which runs until 2023.

The Midlands side run the risk of losing the emerging asset on a ‘free’ next summer, albeit with a compensation fee likely to be paid due to his age, while they could potentially be forced to cash in this summer, with clubs circling.

The report suggests that fellow Premier League sides Arsenal and Liverpool are keeping a watchful eye on his progress, as well as Bundesliga duo Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund – the latter side having notably poached Jude Bellingham from rivals Birmingham City two years ago.

Supporters fuming

For all the strong, early business done by Steven Gerrard and co thus far – with four major signings already confirmed – the loss of Chukwuemeka could prove a notable setback, with supporters undoubtedly fuming at the prospect of losing such a promising, youth product in the near future.

While the Austrian-born youngster is yet to truly force his way to becoming a first-team regular under the Villa boss – making just two top-flight starts thus far – he has been earmarked as a player who will kick on in the future, having been originally plucked from Northampton Town six years ago.

A solitary assist in 16 senior games for the club may not be overly impressive, although the indications are that he will go on to be a real firm fixture of Gerrard’s side moving forward, with the 42-year-old previously stating his intentions to keep the highly-rated playmaker:

“Hopefully he is going to be a big player for Aston Villa. We want him to stay here long-term. We believe this is the best place for Carney. I hope that situation progresses in a positive way.”

The emerging talent is seemingly doing all he can at present to showcase just what he can do to the former Three Lions skipper – as well as to any interested parties – having shone while on international duty with England at the U19 European Championship in recent weeks.

The 6 foot ace registered a goal and an assist in each of the first two games in the competition, while also captaining the side in the third, with a semi-final clash with Italy to come on Tuesday.

The Villa starlet is showing the whole of Europe just what a talent he is, with both the club and supporters perhaps fearful that he is putting himself in the shop window by continuing to impress, with all fully aware that it may be hard to prevent his head from turning once the continent’s big boys invariably come knocking.

AND in other news, Lange eyeing Villa move for £30m “goalscoring machine”, he’d be their own Darwin Nunez

Manchester United have met with Christian Eriksen’s agent to discuss a move to Old Trafford for the Danish star.

What’s the news?

That’s according to Fabrizio Romano, who told GiveMeSport: “With Christian Eriksen, they had a conversation, a direct discussion with his agent Martin Schoots a few days ago, they discussed about a potential contract, so it’s a possibility, but Tottenham and Brentford are also pushing for him to go next season.”

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This is good news for Erik ten Hag, who is looking to add some quality to his midfield ahead of next season.

He’s Pogba 2.0

Ten Hag has a major summer rebuilding job at his hands, and with players such as Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic and Jesse Lingard all having left the club, he will require midfield reinforcements.

Eriksen has been in great form for Brentford since joining them in January on a short-term deal, scoring once and registering four assists. These performances have gathered attention from the likes of United and Newcastle, with the Bees looking increasingly likely to lose the player in the summer.

With 236 Premier League appearances to his name, he can bring plenty of experience to the Red Devils’ squad.

FBRef’s similar player model has compared Eriksen to Paul Pogba, with the two being alike in terms of playing style, while their statistics from last season are quite similar.

Both generated more than 50 shot-creating actions in the 2021/22 campaign (Eriksen 53, Pogba 51), although it was the Dane match average of 5.08 compared to Pogba’s 3.4 which shows his effectiveness when it comes to creating chances.

Defensively, Eriksen won only three fewer tackles than Pogba (10 to 13) despite playing nine fewer matches, and along with a lot of other metrics would have been similar or better to the Frenchman, he played for the majority of the season.

There is no doubt that Ten Hag will gain one of the best playmakers around if he signs the 30-year-old, but he needs to act fast given the interest from elsewhere.

AND in other news, Forget De Jong: Man Utd now join race for £28.8m-rated “machine”, he’s Ten Hag’s dream

Leeds United could shock a few people this summer, according to transfer insider Dean Jones…

What’s the word?

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT this week, the Eurosport journalist delivered an intriguing claim about Victor Orta and co’s potential plans to bolster Jesse Marsch’s playing squad.

He said:

“We’ll discover how ambitious Leeds will be.

“I think they’ll put in a few offers that are unexpected, just to test the water, but then I also think that we’ll see Jesse Marsch leaning on players that he’s either worked with in the past or knows a lot about from his career so far so that he can build a team that is adept to play his style of play.”

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Exciting claims

Indeed, these claims are surely going to leave the American head coach absolutely delighted as the club have already secured two familiar names in Brenden Aaronson and Rasmus Kristensen, both joining from RB. Salzburg for a combined £35m.

The Yorkshire giants could make it a hat-trick by signing another player with ties to the Austrian champions as Liverpool backup Takumi Minamino has been linked with a switch to Elland Road, whilst Bayern Munich outcast Marc Roca is another name heavily mooted.

Both Aaronson and Kristensen add quality to two much-needed positions – attacking midfield, where Leeds had failed to sign a new option for four years and right-back, where an upgrade was due.

Minamino would add a new dimension to Marsch’s attack, something that could be needed if Raphinha does depart the club. The Japan international bagged nine goals in 22 appearances under the American at Salzburg.

Roca would be another piece for the engine room and could be a solid option alongside Kalvin Phillips, who too has been linked with an exit.

Given the fact that the Whites only narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship on the final day of the season, Marsch will surely be buoyed by the club backing him in the transfer window to ensure that it won’t happen again.

It could be an exciting time to be a Leeds fan if Jones’ claims turn out to be true.

AND in other news, Orta given green light to seal “special” £18m Leeds swoop, he’s Marsch’s dream signing…

Manchester United have initiated contact with the representatives of Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele, according to reports in Spain.

The lowdown: Exit pending

Out of contract at the end of June (Transfermarkt), the future of Dembele at the Camp Nou has never been more uncertain.

Linked with a host of the elite clubs around Europe including Premier League rivals Liverpool and Chelsea, it seems inevitable that the 25-year-old will leave the Catalan giants five years after signing for an eye-watering £135.5million from Borussia Dortmund (BBC).

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However, the Red Devils could also be in the mix as Erik ten Hag attempts to strengthen the Old Trafford ranks in his first window at the helm.

The latest: United interest

As per reports in the Spanish press, Manchester United are believed to have ‘contacted’ the agent of the flying Frenchman.

It’s claimed that only a ‘miracle’ would see Dembele stay at Barcelona and as such, the Red Devils’ boss has personally ‘requested the hiring’ of the World Cup winner.

The report also states that United will put a ‘blank cheque on the table’, although the man once hailed for his ‘frightening pace’ by Lionel Messi would likely reject a move to Manchester due to the absence of UEFA Champions League football.

The verdict: An unnecessary addition

Despite possessing undoubted mesmerising skill and direct running ability, labelled a ‘phenomenon’ by Messi, signing Dembele would see the wide department overflow at Old Trafford with Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Elanga and returning loanee Amad Diallo all vying for a spot on either wing.

Badly hit by injuries during a stop-start Barcelona career, the 27-cap France ace remained relatively fit throughout 2021/22 and managed 15 direct goal contributions in 32 appearances across all competitions.

Regardless of this form, even without the requirement of a transfer fee, United would be well served to avoid shelling out likely extortionate wages for the man currently earning £287,000 per week in Spain – he has missed over 100 games through injury during his time in Catalonia.

In other news, Erik ten Hag could be key in luring this star to Old Trafford.

Liverpool are set for an interesting summer transfer window with reports linking Sadio Mane to a move away, and now a new transfer target has emerged that could potentially replace the Senegalese winger’s outstanding output.

What’s the latest?

According to Mirror Football, Liverpool are tracking Rennes forward Martin Terrier as a potential replacement for Mane this summer.

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As per the report, the Reds were hoping to confirm an extension on their winger’s contract but with speculation mounting on his desire to leave the club are intending to identify players who can provide a similar attacking output.

Previous reports indicate Terrier could cost as much as €40m (£34m).

Mane replacement

With the Liverpool winger scoring 120 goals and contributing 48 assists over the last six years at the club, his boots will be hard to fill and FSG will need to work hard to identify a player that can seamlessly fit into the team, offering a similar goal threat if Mane does leave this summer.

In Ligue 1, Terrier who was hailed “quality” by Bruno Genesio, and hailed for an “astonishing” goal by the BT Sport commentary team, has had a phenomenal season in terms of his attacking output with the attacker the top-goalscorer for Rennes this season.

The £22.5m-rated star has scored 21 goals, more than Lionel Messi and Neymar combined, contributed three assists and created five big chances.

On top of that, he’s made 1.1 key passes, 1.5 tackles and taken 2.4 shots on average per game, as well as winning the majority of both his ground and aerial duels (53%), proving that he has been a solid and prolific attacking threat in his 37 appearances.

Terrier impressively ranks second for shots on target, is the third highest scoring player and created the sixth most big chances in Ligue 1 this season.

In terms of replacing Mane, Terrier not only offers high levels of goal contributions but offers diversity in his positioning which will be a huge benefit to Jurgen Klopp if they can secure a deal for the Frenchman, with the player confident playing in attacking midfield, left wing and as a striker.

Ultimately, FSG will need to carefully prepare for the likely departure of Mane going forward and identifying players like Terrier as potential replacements put them in good stead to be able to soften the blow if the worst case scenario happens this summer.

AND in other news: Liverpool can land dream Mane heir in £43m deal for “exceptional” 25 y/o “nightmare”

Members of the media are blown away by a ‘big’ transfer development out of Tottenham Hotspur as head coach Antonio Conte is handed his first big boost ahead of the 2022/2023 campaign.

The Lowdown: Conte eyes busy summer…

Club chief Fabio Paratici sat down for crunch talks with Conte last week in Italy with the pair drawing up a list of targets and discussing recruitment plans.

The Lilywhites, having secured a top-four Premier League finish and the riches of Champions League football for next season, are also playing with a £150 million equity increase which will be used to back Conte this summer.

Inter Milan star Alessandro Bastoni and Man City forward Gabriel Jesus are among the men on Tottenham’s radar with the north Londoners looking set to be busy (The Telegraph).

Another name they were linked with in Ivan Perisic has now been confirmed as Spurs announce his signing on a Bosman deal from Inter.

The Latest: Media blown away by Perisic news…

Members of the media, heaping praise on Spurs, have been left blown away by Perisic’s arrival at Hotspur Way – with some even branding it a ‘Chelsea-type signing’.

Pundit Jamie O’Hara also called the deal a ‘big move’ by chairman Daniel Levy and co.

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“Big move” – Jamie O’Hara (talkSPORT pundit and ex-Spurs midfielder)

“Amazing signing by Spurs. Perisic may be 33 but he is in the form of his career and was the best wing-back in Serie A last season. Physique, technique, crossing, goal threat, both footed and a beast in the air” – Carlo Garganese (Italian football broadcaster)

“I feel Perisic is a Chelsea-type signing. I mean that as a compliment, too. Age irrelevant. A winner. Won the lot. Will fit in straight away. The Conte factor” – Michael Bridge (Sky Sports reporter)

The Verdict: Right to be impressed…

Signing for zero transfer cost, this Perisic deal is certainly an impressive start to Conte’s first summer transfer window at the club.

The decorated Croatian footballing legend, amassing an imprssive 113 international caps, has also clinched major pieces of silverware at club level.

Winning two Bundesliga titles, one Serie A, a Champions League medal and many domestic trophies, Perisic has even been crowned Croatian Footballer of the Year (Transfermarkt).

Even though he possesses little sell-on value due to his age, the 33-year-old’s vast experience and versatility could be invaluable to Conte.

In other news: Tottenham will now attempt to seal eight-figure agreement for ‘incredible’ speedster, find out more here.

Sunderland’s Aiden McGeady is set to end his five year spell at the Stadium of Light this summer.

What’s the word?

That is according to The Scotsman Journalist, Graham Falk, who took to his personal Twitter account to issue a statement over the former Ireland international’s future.

Falk stated: “Looking likely that Aiden McGeady will be moving back to Scotland with Hibs. A fantastic servant to #SAFC, and one of my favourites of all time. You’ve got a good one there, Hibees fans. Good luck, Aiden.”

Major mistake

McGeady’s reunion with former Black Cats boss Lee Johnson at Hibernian will surely come as a blow to the Sunderland faithful.

Despite struggling with a knee injury this season, McGeady has still managed to make 14 appearances for Alex Neil’s side, chipping in with a healthy seven returns in the form of three goals and four assists.

Whilst he did not directly contribute to the Black Cats’ play-off success on the pitch, his experience in and around the dressing room would surely have helped the side to pull off such a feat.

McGeady has been there through thick and thin with Sunderland, joining them in the Championship and staying with them as they sunk to the third tier of English football.

Through the perspective of football romanticism, leaving after Sunderland finally achieved their objective of promotion is entirely apt, but looking at the bigger picture, Sunderland could surely make use of an experienced and clinical forward in what could be a tough survival campaign in the Championship next season.

The 36-year-old’s contract expires in the summer, so with the latest reports surrounding the Irishman, it looks as though his fate is sealed, with a reunion under Johnson seemingly wrapped up.

McGeady, who has previously been dubbed a “magician” by Roberto Martinez, has registered 34 assists in what is an outstanding return. With that in mind, it could be seen as somewhat of a disaster to let him walk through the exit door so easily.

He will no doubt be missed by the Black Cats fanbase in what is an odd decision to let go of a character who is worth so much to the dressing room.

In other news: Time’s up: Neil must finally axe Donald’s £6k-p/w Sunderland “flop” this summer