Former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy was stunned when he saw a young Jesse Lingard play for the very first time.

That's according to ex-Red Devils first team coach Rene Meulensteen, who recalls the Dutch legend seeing Lingard in action alongside Diego Forlan at Manchester United.

This season Lingard has finally started to fulfil his potential, and is regularly putting in encouraging performances for the Red Devils.

The 25-year-old has notched 11 goals in 29 appearances this campaign, and has convinced Jose Mourinho he deserves a place in the first team.

(Image: AFP)

"I can recall players like Ruud van Nistelrooy and Diego Forlan coming down to watch our sessions," Meulensteen told Bleacher Report.

"And when they saw Jesse both said, 'Jesus, this boy is good!'"

(Image: Reuters)

Meulensteen, who went on to manage Fulham, even went as far as to compare Lingard to legendary Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta.

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He added: "I saw so many similarities in their games, and I always believed that Jesse was the English Andres Iniesta.

(Image: AFP)

"Like Iniesta, he finds these pockets of space, he is always on the move and has very good feet. The only thing missing until recently was goals, but now Jesse is scoring important goals too.

"In my opinion, you could fly Jesse to Barcelona, let him play in Iniesta's position, and he would comfortably be able to do it and fit in. And he does it in the Premier League, which is more difficult than La Liga, so that is a credit to Jesse."