According to the Daily Express, Everton are interested in signing Manchester United winger Jesse Lingard when the transfer window opens. A fee of around £30million has been mooted for the 27-year-old who is out of contract at United in the summer of 2021. Reportedly Manchester United are willing to listen to offers for the England international.
Manchester United willing to sell Lingard
There is no secret to why United would be willing to sell the winger. Apart from his contract situation, he has been underwhelming for much of his Red Devils career. The arrival of Portuguese playmaker Bruno Fernandes in January pushed Lingard down the pecking order of attacking midfielders at the club.
Lingard has made 35 appearances for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team, but 17 of those have come from the substitutes bench. It is becoming increasingly obvious that he is no longer a first-team starter at Old Trafford.
United have ambitions of returning to form glories. However, having an attacking player like Lingard in the team, who produces such a limited number of goals and assists will not see United return to winning the big trophies. In fact, the winger has scored just seven goals and produced three assists in the last two seasons in all competitions. Earlier in his career, he did score some important goals, but in recent seasons his career has stagnated.
Everton accustomed to signing cast-offs
As an Everton fan, it is frustrating to see the Blues sign cast-offs from the so-called ‘big six’. The club are ambitious and want to start challenging for Champions League football regularly, which can only be achieved by signing the right players in the right positions.
Toffees head coach Carlo Ancelotti is an iconic boss and has got the best out of many players during his managerial career. The Everton hierarchy must have given the Italian reassurances that he could bring in his own players in the next transfer window. Would he really going to want cast-offs from other clubs who are struggling for silverware.
The Blues have signed the likes of Morgan Schneiderlin, Alex Iwobi and Theo Walcott from Manchester United and Arsenal respectively. None of the trio have become key players, instead, their careers have stalled. Iwobi maybe needs time to impress, but I doubt the other two would be missed by the majority of Evertonian’s.
Not many players have joined Everton from other high-profile clubs and go on to be successful at Everton. Arguably the two success stories were Tim Howard and to a lesser extent Phil Neville, who both arrived from Manchester United.
The Toffees no longer should be shopping at big clubs for players not considered good for clubs in the top-four, which is where they want to be.
Everton should look elsewhere
The Merseysider’s are odds of 6/1 to be Lingard’s next club. Arsenal are the same odds and as an Everton, I would say good luck to the lad in north London. The Gunners also have a slightly underwhelming recent record in the transfer market. Hopefully, if it is a choice the England international decides to join Arsenal.
Signing Lingard would suggest that the club’s recruitment has not moved forward from the blunder ridden spell of Steve Walsh as director of football. If the team is to progress, they need to bring young and hungry players, not players who have failed to live up to their potential.
Would Jesse Lingard be a good signing for Everton?
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