West Ham are having doubts about their ability to sign Jesse Lingard on a permanent deal from Manchester United in the upcoming transfer window, according to the Daily Mail.

What's the latest news on Jesse Lingard?

It was claimed last month that the Hammers were willing to do whatever it took to make Lingard's loan spell in east London a permanent one at the end of the season. However, their stance on the matter seems to have changed since then.

The club are now concerned that they cannot afford to meet Lingard's wage demands, meaning that the 28-year-old may return to Old Trafford in the summer to see out the final year of his contract with the Red Devils.

What are Lingard's wage demands?

It is understood that Lingard would like to sign a four-year contract to stay in the capital, in a deal which would see him earn in excess of £100,000-a-week.

If Lingard were to get his way, he would be in line to receive more than £20.8m across the course of his four-year stay at West Ham.

Would Lingard become West Ham's highest-paid player?

Not necessarily actually.

Ukrainian winger Andriy Yarmolenko currently earns £115,000-per-week, despite only featuring 15 times in the league this term due to injuries. The 31-year-old has failed to score for West Ham in the Premier League in 2020/21, and only has a year left on his contract, suggesting that the Irons may look to offload him in the summer.

Meanwhile, Lingard has made a significantly bigger impact, scoring nine goals and registering four assists since joining David Moyes' team in January.

Could this be a blessing in disguise for Moyes?

Lingard has been a hugely important player for West Ham over the last few months, but missing out on signing him permanently could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Moyes.

A month ago, it seemed to be a no-brainer that the club should make keeping Lingard a priority this summer. However, his form does seem to have tailed off a little in recent weeks.

The attacking midfielder has not been directly involved in a goal in his last three matches, indicating that his purple patch may have come to an end.

He was sensational for a 10-game period, but if West Ham are going to fork out in excess of £20.8m over four years, they will need him to play at a consistently high level season after season, not just for a couple of months at a time.

With the global crisis affecting the club's finances, it may actually be in the team's best interests to move on from Lingard if he is unwilling to compromise on his wage demands, and look for cheaper alternatives instead.

Of course, that's easier said than done but through the signings of Vladimir Coufal, Tomas Soucek, Craig Dawson and Lingard himself, Moyes has shown he knows how to find the best value for money in the transfer market.