West Ham now unlikely to sign £18m star at London Stadium

West Ham‘s chances of signing Manchester United attacker Jesse Lingard are reducing with every passing week, according to Daily Star journalist Paul Brown.

David Moyes’ side have been linked with the £18m-rated England international for several windows, but Brown fears the Hammers’ hopes of convincing him to return to the London Stadium are hanging in the balance.

Lingard’s future at Old Trafford has been up in the air for the last couple of transfer windows, although it was finally confirmed last week that he would finally be leaving his boyhood club following months of uncertainty.

West Ham remain interested in the 29-year-old’s services and can sign him on a free once his Red Devils contract expires later this month.

But Lingard’s wages could be proving an issue for the Hammers, with Newcastle, who are the richest club in world football, recently ending their pursuit following his £150,000 per-week demands.

Lingard is no closer to deciding over his next club, but Brown is concerned over West Ham’s chances right now.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “I’m starting to think that the longer this goes on, the less chance there is of Jesse Lingard ending up at West Ham.

“It’s a move he could have made several times over in the last year, and the fact it hasn’t happened yet would suggest that he’s holding out for possibly a better deal somewhere else, and I don’t think West Ham are in a position to offer him the same kind of money that other clubs might.”

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Despite Lingard being little more than a bit part player at United for the best part of two seasons, the England international is still paid well by his boyhood club.

When he last signed a new long-term