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Newcastle United co-owner Amanda Staveley has revealed to the Athletic that Manchester United star Jesse Lingard was extremely close to joining the Magpies in the winter transfer window. However, the deal fell off as both clubs failed to reach an agreement.
It has been a difficult 2021-22 season for Jesse Lingard, making just 12 Premier League appearances, starting in only one of them. Many expected him to leave Manchester United last summer after having a prolific six-month loan spell with West Ham United in the 2020-21 season. The Englishman scored an impressive nine goals in 16 Premier League appearances for the Hammers.
However, Lingard stayed put and his decision backfired. To get some game time, the 28-year-old tried extremely hard to make a move to Tyneside on deadline day, but the deal fell through.
Amanda Staveley gave some insight into what went wrong in the transfer:
We had to encourage players – ‘we’ll be a safe place for you, we’ll deliver and grow’. Some desperately wanted to come to us, like Sven (Botman), who still does very much and has talked very openly about that. Coming through all that showed us we can do it, that we can stick to our plan and if we get criticised on the last day for ‘oh, you’re going after Jesse (Lingard)’, well, Jesse wanted to come to us. We did everything. We never stopped. From the start to the finish, we did not stop working.”
As per One Football, Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick explained that Lingard did not move to Newcastle for a couple of reasons. The Magpies did not agree with United's seemingly 'unreasonable' compensation expectations from the loan deal. Secondly, after Mason Greenwood's suspension, United were one player short in the attacking department and wanted to keep Lingard as cover.
Lingard will become a free agent in the summer and will most probably leave the club after his 21-year association with the Red Devils.
Newcastle United reportedly ahead of Manchester United in race to sign Victor Osimhen
According to the latest report from Area Napoli, Newcastle are leading the race to sign Victor Osimhen from Napoli against Manchester United and Real Madrid. The Nigerian international has a strong reputation for scoring goals and it would be a coup for the Magpies if they land him next season.
Osimhen became the second-most expensive African player to be transferred to when he joined Napoli from Lille for a fee of €70 million in 2020. He has made 21 appearances across competitions this season, scoring 11 goals and giving four assists.
In an ideal world, Napoli would love to hold on to their prized possession. But like many other clubs, the pandemic has hit them hard and they are struggling financially. Hence, they would not be averse to the idea of selling their prized possession to recoup some of their losses. However, they will have to be prepared to sell the Nigerian international at a lower price than what they had bought him for.
Signing Osimhen could prove to be a strong statement of intent by Newcastle and turn out to be an excellent addition up front to their ever-improving squad. It remains to be seen if he moves to Tyneside in the summer.
