Nottingham Forest are reportedly closing in on the signing of former Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard.
Earlier this summer, the long-serving Englishman departed Old Trafford after barely featuring during his final campaign with the club.
Nevertheless, the 29-year-old has received widespread interest in his signature, being provided with options both in the Premier League and abroad.
At one stage, West Ham United appeared to be the clear favourites to sign a player who impressed during a loan spell at the London Stadium in 2020-21.
However, over the past 48 hours, Forest have come out of nowhere to be regarded as the frontrunners to win the race for the England international's signature.
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According to BBC Sport, the newly-promoted club have made significant progress in negotiations with the player.
The report adds that while Forest are said to be close to tying up a deal, an agreement is yet to be reached between the relevant parties.
Earlier this week, it was claimed that the East Midlands giants were prepared to pay in the region of £200,000 per week to wrap up the signing.
While West Ham are said to have put forward a lucrative proposal of their own, the suggestion is that they were not willing to match the bid of Forest.
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Jacob Steinberg of The Guardian reports that the first part of a medical took place on Wednesday evening, a clear indication that Lingard has opted to move to the City Ground.
Forest head coach Steve Cooper has already made nine first-team additions since guiding his team to promotion via the Championship playoffs.
Should Lingard complete a transfer to the club, he will be joining former United teammate Dean Henderson, who has signed on a season-long loan deal.
Lingard was limited to just 356 minutes of Premier League last season, just two of his 16 outings coming from the starting lineup.
Darren Plant
