Everton are not expected to sign free agent attacker Jesse Lingard in the January transfer window, according to Alan Myers.
The Sky Sports journalist responded to a question about the possible move on Twitter (2 January) to play down rumours that the Toffees could be looking to add the former Manchester United and Nottingham Forest man.
It had been reported by talkSPORT earlier the same day that Everton were considering handing Lingard a “lifeline” by bringing him to Goodison Park on a short-term contract.
While it is certainly true that there is a gap in the Everton set up for a supporting attacker when Abdoulaye Doucouré is unavailable it is hard to see Lingard being the answer.
At his best he would be clearly be an asset to Dyche, but since leaving Old Trafford permanently two summers’ ago his high-profile move to City Ground has flamed out and he has then failed to secure a contract with both West Ham and Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia.
If he is expecting wages that have made either of those moves unviable then he is unlikely to be someone Everton can consider.
With so little football in the past year he would also likely take time to get up to speed, making it a doubt that he would have much scope to have an impact this season.
Everton do of course have a former England star of their own who could fill the very same role, who himself is also short of match practice and may be too expensive to contribute, in Dele Alli.
Since the ex-Tottenham man’s situation remains unclear in light of the requirement to pay Spurs £10million after seven more appearances it seems highly unlikely that the club would bring in another player with many of the same sam questions marks.
