Manchester United criticism over Jesse Lingard Newcastle loan is missing the point

The question that Manchester United have left Newcastle to ponder is a simple one: How valuable is Premier League survival to you?

Old Trafford chiefs are in no doubt that Jesse Lingard could play a pivotal role in completing that escape from the bottom three, a belief backed up by his superb performances at West Ham a year ago, if not his baffling underuse by successive United managers this season.

Lingard hit nine goals and registered four assists in 16 games for the Hammers and started the season with some sprightly performances off the bench for United, but somehow that wasn't deemed worthy of a start in an underperforming team.

Now the writing is on the wall. United will lose Lingard for nothing in the summer when they should have cashed in last year. The decision to keep him in an already bloated squad was baffling and is going to prove costly. United are continually showing themselves to be poor sellers, particularly when it comes to the timing of departures.

This window represents their last chance of bringing in some revenue for Lingard. United believe he would fetch around £50million if he was up for sale and was under a longer contract. That valuation is on the high side for a 29-year-old who can't get a game at Old Trafford, but then he does have 32 England caps and 240 Premier League appearances to his name.

United also insist he could prove invaluable to Newcastle, a club who have the wealth to pull off significant deals and who need survival to keep their ambitious plans under Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) on a smooth timetable.

Staying up this season is maybe worth £100million to Newcastle. It's a financial hit they can take and they would come straight back up, but it's more than a year