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| Academy Graduate: Lingard can be seen here (middle of the three youngsters) observing Cristiano Ronaldo.
Born in Warrington, Chesire, Jesse Lingard joined Manchester United's youth academy and quickly impressed. He rose through the ranks quickly and certainly caught the eye of the coaches. Perhaps his most famous achievement so far in a reds shirt was being part of the famous FA youth cup win of the 2010/11 season, which would subsequently lead to him signing a professional contract in that summer.
U21 coach Warren Joyce described the lad as "Different class" back in 2014 after once again impressing in the reserves league. After returning from his successful loan spell at Birmingham City, Lingard had apparently shown "great attitude" as he came back from a team where he was very much in the spotlight to playing at the lesser level of the U21's. Regardless of this however Lingard still went on to be Joyce's top scorer that year.
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| Three's company: Lingard starred alongside the likes of Paul Pogba and Ravel Morrison
The 2010/11 season was certainly one to showcase the young talent of Manchester United. Their U21 side consisting of players such as now Juventus superstar Paul Pogba and Lazio man Ravel Morrison, certainly won the FA youth cup in style. This campaign saw some very impressive results for the young devils, including an emphatic 4-0 second leg semi final win against Chelsea and a 4-1 second leg final win against Sheffield United.
Many might argue that Lingard wasn't the best of this crop of promising youngsters. He didn't only have Morrison and Pogba to compete with but also young England striker Will Keane, who scored a hat-trick against Chelsea and a brace against Sheffield to win the cup. While Pogba and Morrison eventually left Old Trafford for arguably greener pastures, Lingard remained and seemed determined to make it to the very top of his boyhood club.
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| Eye for goal: Lingard scored a 13 minute hat-trick on his Birmingham debut
Despite hoping to skip the loan process and break straight into the United first team, Lingard was sent out on a month long loan to Birmingham City. The young forward quickly showed however, that he definitely had the potential to be a part of future United sides, as he scored a 13 minute hat-trick in the first half against Sheffield United before adding a fourth in the second half. His stats for Birmingham would read: 6 goals in 13 games, nearly an average of a goal every two games, which isn't too bad for an attacking midfielder.
By adding up his impressive loan displays and equally impressive pre-season performances for Manchester United ( highlights being goals against Liverpool and Barcelona under Louis Van Gaal) you can see that he certainly had quite a case for meriting a place in Van Gaal's team. At the start of the 2014/15 he was given just this chance. Van Gaal handed him his first ever Red devils start against Swansea City, however he sustained a nasty injury 24 minutes in, which would rule him out for the rest of the season. Utter heartbreak.
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| The start of something special? Lingard scored his first Reds goal against West Brom
While many along the years could see the potential that Lingard possessed, it is certainly a great compliment for the Warrington man to hear the praise that the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson had for him, as well as what he predicted for the youngster: "Jesse Lingard is going to be some player" the fiery Scot said three years ago. "He will become a player when he's 22 or so, as an attacking midfielder he has got a really good talent" If Fergie's words are to be believed then it would seem Lingard is right on track at the age of 22, after scoring a truly super goal at Old Trafford yesterday.
With the addition of his excellent display and assist against CSKA Moscow, as well as having a decent game away at Everton a few weeks ago, Jesse Lingard looks set to get quite a few more games this season. "Lingard impressed me when I first came here" Van Gaal said, speaking to the media after their victory against West Brom. "Other clubs wanted him on loan this season, but I said I wouldn't do that, I wanted to keep him"
After receiving so much praise in recent weeks, Lingard himself must certainly be thinking he can make a real difference this year. He seems to be one of the few players this year who has gotten fans off their seats, with Van Gaal's men being criticised of playing 'boring' football. Manchester United have always had wide men, capable of dancing past and beating opposition players and this seems to be exactly what Lingard is capable of, showing this quality in games against Manchester City in which he also hit the crossbar and against CSKA Moscow.
All in all, Lingard has certainly fulfilled his dream of playing in the United first team and scoring goals at Old Trafford in front of 75,000 adoring fans, which is certainly a far cry from Leigh Sports Village where the U21's usually play. Fellow players and fans alike however, will definitely want to see him on the pitch at the 'Theatre of dreams' for many years to come.
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