ExWHUemployee has dropped an update on the future of reported West Ham United transfer target Jesse Lingard.

What's the talk?

In a recent post on The West Ham Way Patreon, the Hammers insider revealed that, despite a recent report by the Daily Mail claiming that David Moyes' side are set to beat Everton in the race for the out-of-contract forward this summer, this is in fact not the case - with talks between the east London side and the 29-year-old set to resume towards the end of the week.

In his post, Ex said: "This story has been verified by two sources - one at West Ham and one close to the player - to be rubbish, again!

"Talks are hoping to take place at the latter end of the week, but yet again another person has jumped the gun with the story. It is best to ignore this story until anything is confirmed as advancing. It seems to be causing a lot of meltdowns in the West Ham fan base."

Supporters will be gutted

Considering just how exciting an addition Lingard would very much look to be to Moyes' attacking arsenal at the London Stadium next season, Ex's claim that the 29-year-old is not currently close to agreeing a move to E15 this summer is sure to have left supporters of the Irons gutted.

Indeed, over his 16 Premier League appearances during a loan spell at West Ham in 2020/21, the £16.2m-rated talent proved just how impressive a full-time addition he would be for the club, bagging nine goals, providing five assists and creating three big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.6 shots, making 1.1 key passes and completing 1.1 dribbles per game.

These returns saw the 32-cap international average simply sensational SofaScore match rating of 7.19, not only ranking him as Moyes' best performer in the league but also as the 20th-best player in the division as a whole - playing a key role in the Hammers sealing an impressive sixth-place finish that season.

As such, while Lingard's £150k-per-week wage demands are somewhat on the high side, it is clear to see that, should the former Manchester United forward be able to recreate this level of form in east London next season, he would be well worth it - leading us to believe that Moyes must do everything he can to get a deal over the line for Lingard ahead of the Toffees this summer.

AND in other news: Moyes given green light for "scary" £30m West Ham target, it'd be an "incredible" coup