An astonishing revelation has come to light courtesy of The Telegraph regarding Jesse Lingard and his salary at Nottingham Forest.
For West Ham fans, this might be a case of look away now.
Weeks after labelling Lingard a mercenary for choosing the City Ground, it would appear that the wages on offer at the London Stadium were actually more substantial.
Lingard chose the Reds amid West Ham interest; with David Moyes feeling that a deal was all but completed at one stage.
Forest nipped in on the final bend though and persuaded the former Manchester United man to sign a one-year deal on Trentside.
That caused uproar among Hammers supporters. Some of their fan base were already up in arms at a relatively slow summer on the transfer front.
Now, it appears that those who called him for joining Forest solely for the money have been made to look very foolish indeed.
The very reputable John Percy claims that West Ham offered Lingard a basic salary of £127,000-a-week and a £1 million signing-on fee.
Forest, however, have tempted Lingard to join on a basic wage of £80,000-a-week with bonuses that take his salary to around £120,000-a-week.
Lingard salary discussion rumbles on
Regardless of what he’s being paid, some of the stuff written about Lingard has been really unfair.
At the end of the day, the player could have gone to another club outside of England and earned a bucket load of cash playing in a far weaker league.
Instead, he’s been hooked by the Forest project. Is that really so difficult to believe?
Forest were unbelievable at times last season and in reaching the FA Cup quarter-finals they defied the odds on several occasions.
At West Ham, Lingard would have been among several top players and his place wouldn’t have been a given.
In signing for Forest he becomes the big fish in a relatively small pond of players with Premier League experience.
This latest snippet of news may surprise some supporters, particularly those of a West Ham persuasion.
Lingard will hope to ensure the Hammers faithful are still firmly miserable after he’s faced them at the City Ground next week.