Injury-hit Hammers won’t turn to free agent Lingard
WEST HAM have ruled out an SOS call to Jesse Lingard as the club focus on January targets that include Sunderland’s Jack Clarke and Ajax’s Steven Bergwijn. Manager David Moyes is facing a crisis in attack, with Lucas Paqueta and Jarrod Bowen out. Michail Antonio is still injured after suffering a setback in training on Friday and Mohammed Kudus is at the Africa Cup of Nations with Ghana. Moyes had been reluctant to enter the January market, but now accepts reinforcements are needed. Lingard had a productive loan spell with West Ham in 2021, scoring nine goals in 16 appearances. He is now a free agent after leaving Nottingham Forest and has been training privately in Dubai, but there are concerns at West Ham about the 31-year-old going so long without playing. He trained with the Hammers and Saudi side Al Ettifaq earlier this season, yet remains without a club. Moyes has Danny Ings and 19-year-old Divin Mubama as options up front. Ings has been linked with Wolves and Crystal Palace, but the striker crisis will probably mean he stays. The same goes for Said Benrahma, who is a target for Lyon. News broke yesterday that Paqueta could be out for eight weeks, though the Brazilian played down the escalating time frame, telling fans to ‘calm down’. Bowen may miss three weeks, while Antonio faces another eight weeks out. The club have also looked at defensive options. Wolves captain Max Kilman and Peterborough youngster Ronnie Edwards are well regarded. But Wolves are under no pressure to sell Kilman, who was courted by Napoli last summer. A bid of about £30million was rejected. Kilman signed a five-year contract with Wolves in August, which made him one of their top earners on about £90,000 a week.