West Ham: £18m star could 'stir up problems' at London Stadium

West Ham United ‘need to be careful’ in their pursuit of Manchester United attacking midfielder Jesse Lingard, according to Daily Star journalist Paul Brown.

The Hammers have been heavily linked with the 29-year-old for several months after he enjoyed an extremely successful loan spell at the club last season.

After struggling for game time at Old Trafford, Lingard revived his career via a temporary switch to West Ham in January 2021, registering nine goals and five assists in 16 Premier League appearances.

Former Red Devils manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer persuaded the 32-cap England international to stay put last summer, though, with the promise of regular first-team action.

However, that failed to materialise under the Norwegian tactician or his successor Ralf Rangnick, and Lingard has been restricted to just four starts and 535 minutes of action across all competitions.

The 20-time English champions then refused to allow Lingard to return to West Ham during the winter window as they were considered direct rivals in their bid for a top-four finish.

But with the versatile star now set to become a free agent in a matter of months, the capital club may finally be able to secure his services on a permanent basis.

According to SalarySport, Lingard currently earns £80,000-per-week, a figure that will likely increase when he leaves United as he’s available on a free transfer.

And Brown believes it would be ‘difficult to justify’ if West Ham decide to make him their highest earner in order to fend off competition for his signature.

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He told GiveMeSport: “It would be difficult to justify that, I think, with the rest of the squad. I think that would probably stir