The long awaited transfer of Jadon Sancho to Manchester United could be on this summer and Jesse Lingard could be the missing piece of the puzzle to get the deal done.
Lingard, who is currently on loan at West Ham, has attracted the attention of Sancho's club Borussia Dortmund after a stellar season.
And the interest from Dortmund could be something United use in order to seal the deal for Sancho, according the The Sun.
The Premier League club have tried to sign the England international before but they could not agree a fee with the German club.
Dortmund are keen to attract as high a price as possible for £100m-rated Sancho, with 15% of any fee due back to his former club Manchester City.
However, it is understood the price will be lowered if United include Lingard in the move.
The midfielder is worth around £20m and United will look for that fee despite Lingard having a year left on his contract.
Dortmund are not the only club interested in him though as loan club West Ham also want to sign him permanently.
Hammers boss David Moyes is keen but his £100,000-a-week wages may be too much for the club to fork out.
But a deal could yet be struck, with Hammers' captain Mark Noble revealing earlier this year that Lingard was Moyes' "favourite".
He told the BBC’s That Peter Crouch Podcast: “We do boxes [in training] and he’s not even allowed in the middle! Now the lads are on it and it’s a running joke.
"They live in the same apartment block now and the gaffer loves it as well. Jesse will be with us and the gaffer will go: ‘Jess, thanks for bringing me that bottle of wine the other night!’
“He’ll just swallow his Adam’s apple, Jesse, he hasn’t got a comeback.”
