Jesse Lingard has been hard at work trying to work his way up to the Manchester United first team, and his efforts appear to have paid off as Louis van Gaal plans to start the young midfielder against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.
According to the Metro, Lingard is expected to start in the Champions League at midfield over Juan Mata.
In a MUTV interview , Louis van Gaal revealed that the 22-year-old midfielder is poised to see more playing time and will be given a chance to compete with Juan Mata, Ander Herrera and even Wayne Rooney for playing time.
“Lingard’s competitor is Juan Mata and his competitor is also, for example, Ander Herrera or Wayne Rooney,” Van Gaal said.
“Or, he when he’s played on the left, because he can also play on the left, his competitor was Memphis. So it’s not easy to come in.
“He trained from the beginning – also in the United States – and maybe you remember his goal against Barcelona? He played very good in that match and trained very well. He has to wait for his moment and maybe his moment has arrived now.”
Prior to the 2015-16 season, Lingard made just one appearance for Man United and was loaned out several times to a variety of Championship division clubs in an effort to gain more playing time.
Lingard was capped 11 times for England’s Under-21 team, scoring two goals from 2013 to 2015.
The Metro’s report was confirmed hours later when the starting XI was announced:
#MUFC XI vs CSKA Moscow: De Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Jones, Rojo, Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger, Herrera, Lingard, Martial, Rooney.
— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) October 21, 2015
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