Lingard wants to follow in Cleverley’s footsteps

Back in August, Jesse Lingard’s impressive performances during the pre-season tour caught the eye of many United fans – with the highly-rated youngster showing his future potential. Lingard again looked impressive in the Carling Cup victory against Newcastle United, and his good form led to interest from numerous Championship clubs looking to strike a loan deal for the midfielder.

Last week saw Lingard complete a month-long loan deal with Leicester City, a move that will see the Warrington-born youngster gain some first-team experience. Presumably the deal will be extended further if the first month is successful, but despite his promising start to first-team at football, Lingard has much more ambitious aims.

After impressing in Leicester’s 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest over the weekend, Lingard revealed that he wants to follow in the footsteps of United teammate Tom Cleverley, who is the latest academy player to make the break into United’s midfield. Coincidentally, Cleverley also spent some time on loan at Leicester City a few years ago, and Lingard has drawn more than one comparison with the English midfielder.

Lingard told the Leicester Mercury “I look at Tom Cleverley and what he has achieved, becoming part of the United first team, and he had his first loan move to Leicester. He stepped up and it would be good to follow in his footsteps. He is someone to look up to because when he was younger, he was one of the small guys, like me. He didn’t get much playing time in the youth team but he went out on loan, stuck at it and worked hard, and that is what I want to do.”