Jesse Lingard has been described as a “big player” by former team-mate Michael Carrick as his rise up the footballing ranks continues.
Lingard has spent his entire career at Manchester United, progressing through the ranks, into the first team, and on to be a regular for England.
Despite having his most productive season ever, scoring 13 goals for his club, and two for his country, a number of fans have yet to fully get behind the Warrington born star.
However, while some fans are yet to be convinced by the 25-year-old, one man who is well aware of what Lingard brings to the team is former United captain and now first team coach, Michael Carrick:
“I remember watching Jesse over on the back pitches [at the Aon Training Complex] when he was a young lad,” Carrick told the Man Utd website.
“He must have been 15 and I was seeing this tiny little kid running around. You could see then the ability he had – his movement, awareness and all that sort of stuff.
“It was just about his physicality and giving him time to develop. You can’t give enough credit to the staff behind the scenes for letting him take his own time to develop and nurturing him in different ways. Now, obviously we’re getting the rewards from that. He had a great season [in 2017/18], scoring a lot of goals and he is now a big player for us.”
Lingard’s latest goal was a fine 20 yard strike for England in their World Cup group game against Panama.