Another one falls off Newcastle United summer plans

Of course, it had to happen. Bring our hopes up, hit us in the face when we feel like we’re getting right there.

Paul Pogba was probably never a real possibility, obviously, but Manchester United’s outcast Jesse Lingard surely looked the part as an English international wanting to stay put in the motherland to get massive playing time and a chance at cracking the Qatar squad. Newcastle, anyone? Welp.

The Telegraph is reporting it probably won’t be quite happening. Not because Newcastle doesn’t like the player, not because the player doesn’t like Newcastle, but because both parties seem to have different perceptions of what a full bag of money should contain in terms of greenies.

As things stand, there are two Magpies on triple-digit weekly wages right now: Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier, both getting a £100K bill every seven days. You probably noticed how both of the lads arrived this past January. That probably had something to do with their bumps in wages as they felt in a position to demand Newcastle pony up given the precarious competitive situation of the club back then, and also their very healthy wealth.

It feels like Lingard is most definitely convinced he’s worth his current £75K... and then some. The Telegraph is reporting a demand of double that salary from whoever wants to land his talents. I mean. Yeah, sure.

Lingard’s good and all. You know I’m all in for bringing him to Tyneside, but has this lad gone mad? Not only does Lingard supposedly want £150K+ weekly, but also a “huge signing-on fee” on top of everything. We already knew that Manchester United were a little overboard with their nonsensical January demands when Newcastle showed interest in adding Jesse to the fold. But this, we didn’t have a clue about.

Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images

While Lingard is a sound player with a multi-position appeal (he can basically cover all of the attacking half positions without much trouble), he’s most definitely not the player you want to headline the wage scale in advance of future negotiations with other players around the continent this summer.

If fake-rich Londoners from West Ham want to get him back, so be it. Newcastle shouldn’t be falling for any sort of economical trap, let alone one offered by a good-not-great player such as Jesse is these days. Not worth the gamble and the future, more-than-probable wrong implications that will bring to the new negotiating board.

Been a pleasure rumormongering about your signing, Jess, but this is the end.