Rio Impressed With Manchester United Starlet Jesse Lingard

Rio Impressed With Manchester United Starlet Jesse Lingard

Premiership Talk

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes his club have found a talent with a bright future in attacker Jesse Lingard after the speedy winger finished United’s preseason tour of Asia and Australia as top scorer, netting four times in five games for the Red Devils.

Twenty-year-old Lingard is eager to prove his worth under new manager David Moyes, and Rio believes the player could not have done any more to show what he’s capable of, telling The Sun: ”He is a great little player. On the previous tour, he was one of our best players but it didn’t work out for him last season.

“But he couldn’t have done any more to put himself in the shop window in terms of the manager,” he added.

Fellow youngsters Adnan Januzaj and Wilfried Zaha also impressed after earning significant playing time during the tour, both finding the net once each and receiving high praise both from United’s staff as well as the media, with the Daily Mail dubbing Januzaj as United’s up-and-coming Premier League hot shot.

Zaha, who transferred to United from Crystal Palace in January, then immediately loaned back to the Eagles until the end of the season, is also regarded as one of England’s brightest talents after leading his Palace side to promotion back to the Premier League, finding the net eight times in fifty appearances. After finishing England’s horrendous campaign at the under-21 European Championship in Israel, Zaha met up with the United squad, meshing with the returning players immediately.

Speaking to The Sun, Rio added:”He’s (Zaha) fitted in straight away.”

Moyes will now look to incorporate his young stars into the first team, with the hopes of emulating United’s famous Class of ’92, which featured greats such as David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Gary and Phil Neville, and current United winger Ryan Giggs – who Zaha was assigned to dress next to in the club’s changing room.