Nottingham Forest may be looking to offload Jesse Lingard this January after just a matter of months with the club, it has been claimed.
The Englishman only arrived in the past summer, joining as a free agent after signing a contract reported to be worth £115,000 per week plus incentives.
Since then, however, it’s fair to say he’s struggled to impress. Indeed, he has failed to nail down a guaranteed spot in Steve Cooper’s team, starting nine of a possible 14 Premier League games without contributing any goals or assists (via Transfermarkt).
And if the latest claim is to be believed, Forest could well be ready to let Lingard go in the winter transfer market should the right sort of offer arrive.
Noted insider ExWHUemployee made the claim when discussing the player on The West Ham Way podcast.
He said: “All I know is that Nottingham Forest are considering letting him go if someone comes in for him in January or will pick up his wages. So it’ll be interesting to see what happens there.”
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TIF Thoughts on Jesse Lingard and Nottingham Forest…
The 29-year-old arrived on a free from Manchester United having spent last season with the Red Devils as a bit-part player. Indeed, he started just twice in the league and ended up with two goals and zero assists.
It seems as though that lack of game time has perhaps left him a little rusty, as he has struggled for form at Forest so far, averaging a lowly WhoScored match rating of 6.17 at his new club – the worst in his team of anyone with over 350 Premier League minutes to their name.
Clearly, things are not going well for Lingard, and while it might seem harsh to get rid of him so early into his time in Nottingham, he is one of the bigger earners at the City Ground. He is hardly earning his keep at present, so it may be wise to offload him as soon as possible.