An update has emerged on Everton target Jesse Lingard, regarding Manchester United's valuation of the midfielder.

What's the talk?

According to The Express, Manchester United are now willing to accept offers in the region of £20m for Everton transfer target Jesse Lingard.

The report claims that West Ham are interested in snapping him up on a permanent deal following his loan spell with the club, whilst the Toffees have been linked with a swoop for him this summer.

New Tim Cahill

Everton have reportedly told James Rodriguez that he is free to find a new club between now and the end of the window, which means that Lingard could be brought in as a direct replacement for the ex-Real Madrid man. It could be time to wave bye-bye to James and say hi to the England international, especially given this latest update.

With Lingard available to buy for £20m, Rafa Benitez and Marcel Brands must act on their interest and submit an offer for him. They could run the risk of West Ham, or another club in England or abroad, swooping in to snap him up if they do not move with urgency, which is why they must prepare a bid immediately.

Benitez could unearth Tim Cahill 2.0 with a deal for the attacking midfielder, as he is someone who is capable of chipping in with goals from behind the striker. The retired Australian scored six or more Premier League goals in six separate seasons for the Toffees, regularly providing a goal threat from midfield for the club over the course of a number of years - in total, he finished with an impressive haul of 68 goals in 278 games for the Merseyside club.

With Lingard, Everton could finally find the heir to his goalscoring throne. The 28-year-old spent the second-half of last season on loan to West Ham and proved to be an instant hit, with a stunning nine goals and five assists in 16 league appearances.

In his last 30+ appearances season for Manchester United, Lingard managed eight goals and six assists in the Premier League. This suggests that he has the quality to score and assist goals on a regular basis if given the game time to make an impact.

Red Devils legend Rio Ferdinand once hailed Lingard as an 'intelligent' footballer and claimed that he could play in any team. Ferdinand said on Five:

"I’ve argued with pundit after pundit, on-air, and off-air. He could play in any top team because he’s an intelligent footballer. He can play off one touch or two touch.

"He gets judged on his antics on social media. Some people, it rubs them up the wrong way, and they don’t like him because of it and a lot of the youngster generation love it.

“But if you’re looking at him as just a cold footballer, anyone who knows football surely has to see the kid has a talent.”

This shows how highly Ferdinand rates the midfielder and is another reason why Benitez must sanction a deal for Lingard in the coming days.

Dubbed as "special" by Stuart Pearce, if Everton can bring the Englishman through the door then they could have their new Tim Cahill...

AND in other news, Everton could sign major Doucoure upgrade in "very complete" £55k-p/w powerhouse...