Loaning players is usually designed to give young talents a chance to impress and develop, but it can also be used to put some of your fringe players in the shop window.
Ultimately it can be tempting to simply get rid of someone if they aren’t playing, but a successful loan spell can bump up their value and ensure you get a bigger fee in the future.
There’s always a risk that the loan doesn’t go well and that can cause their value to plummet even further, but the early signs suggest that won’t be the case with Jesse Lingard.
He’s impressed after moving to West Ham and he looks like he’s confident and enjoying his football again, so it will lead to questions about his future.
READ MORE: The three main defensive targets for Man United this summer as potential transfer budget reported
There’s a chance that Man United might want to keep him and give him another chance in a rotational role, but it can’t be underestimate that players want to play regularly and he may want to leave to ensure he can be a star somewhere else.
A report from Eurosport has indicated that West Ham do want to keep him in the summer, and it’s been suggested that a potentially swap deal could be on the table.
Man United need to strengthen their midfield if Paul Pogba moves on and Declan Rice would be a fine choice, but clearly he’s worth more than Lingard at this stage.
The report claims that United could get more than £20m for Lingard if they sell him outright, so there’s an expectation that he could knock a similar amount of Rice’s asking price if an agreement could be reached.
Rice looks to be pretty settled in London and there’s a chance that West Ham will be in the Champions League next year so there’s no urgent need for him to move, but it’s another situation to keep an eye on this summer.