The saga surrounding Jesse Lingard’s Manchester United future is set to go right up to next Monday’s deadline.
Lingard has made his feelings clear behind-closed-doors and hopes to leave Old Trafford before the end of the month.
Lingard enjoyed a stunning loan spell with West Ham in the back half of last season and returned to Old Trafford with the promise of being regularly involved.
However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer failed to live up to that with Lingard playing just 88 minutes of Premier League football all season.
West Ham had hoped to bring the 29-year-old back to the London Stadium this January, but were thwarted with the Red Devils unwilling to do business with a direct rival.
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Tottenham's pursuit ended the same way, leaving Lingard particularly frustrated with the stance of a club he has been with for more than 20 years.
Lingard is desperate to seal a move, in order to boost his own aspirations of forcing his own way into England’s World Cup squad next winter.
Newcastle are the latest team to be in the mix as Eddie Howe looks for reinforcements that will help his side move away from the relegation zone.
At one point, it looked likely that Lingard would make the move to St James’ only for the deal to now be on the brink of collapse.
According to the Telegraph, the player’s representatives felt that Old Trafford bosses were punishing him for not agreeing to a new contract, which will now see him leave for free at the end of the season.
There was a growing fear in his camp that Ralf Rangnick would be happy to keep the player as nothing more than a precaution, should a Covid-19 outbreak necessitate that he needs to come into the lineup.
Mirror Football understands that the Red Devils are open to sanctioning a move for Lingard, but have put down a prohibitive list of demands before a deal can be completed.
It is believed that United are holding out for a loan fee in the region of £6million, as well as his entire £100,000-per-week salary covered.
Along with those, Newcastle are under the impression that they will be liable to pay an exorbitant bonus to their Premier League rivals, should they avoid the drop.
The Magpies find themselves just one point away from escaping the relegation zone and have played one game free than the team directly above them, Norwich City.
And so, should they manage to stave off relegation, Newcastle would be on the hook for a £12m ‘bonus payment’.
That brings the entire package to almost £20m, for what is essentially a six-month hire purchase.
Bosses on Tyneside are understandably reluctant about shelling out that kind of money on an asset that wouldn’t necessarily be with them long-term.
With just five days to go of the window, Lingard’s potential for sealing another career rejuvenating loan spell, hangs in the balance.
