Jesse Lingard has the same attributes as Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta, his former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen has claimed.

The 27-year-old has been struggling for form at Old Trafford this season with his last goal in the Premier League coming in December 2018.

But Meulensteen has compared Lingard's qualities to those of World Cup winner Iniesta.

English midfielder Jesse Lingard has been struggling for form at Old Trafford this season

'Jesse had various loan clubs and then he came back,' Meulensteen told The Michael Anthony Show.

'And I think Louis van Gaal was the manager at the time and Louis was very big on bringing young players through and Jesse got the chance to suddenly play in the first team and so did [Marcus] Rashford.

'That's the luck that you need and certain managers can see it.

Former United coach Rene Meulensteen has backed the 27-year-old to return to his best

JESSE LINGARD'S STATS THIS SEASON Appearances: 32 Starts: 16 Goals: 2 Assists: 1 Advertisement

'Jesse always had attributes in his game as Iniesta had for Barcelona.'

Meulensteen, who worked as a first-team coach at the Red Devils between 2007 and 2013, has backed the Englishman to return to his best as he believes the midfielder must sort out the 'dent' in his game.

'Jesse, in my opinion - and I think he knows it himself, he's a great kid - he's the sort of player that's so difficult for opposition teams to mark,' he added.

'I think it's more a confidence thing, you need to recognise as staff and coaches and say "OK, when did you have the best games? When did you score the most goals? And why isn't it happening now?"

'Somewhere down that line there's a dent and you need to find that and what you can do to make sure the focus goes back.'

Other options have been preferred by United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in his Premier League teams in recent weeks with Lingard playing just 23 minutes in the last four league matches.

Lingard has the same attributes as Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta, Meulensteen has claimed

Spain legend Iniesta, 35, is plying his trade in Japan with Vissel Kobe having moved to the Far East when he left Catalonia in 2018.

He had been at Barcelona since coming through the ranks as a youngster and won LaLiga nine times, the Copa del Rey on six occasions, seven Spanish Super Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, three Club World Cups and, of course, four Champions League titles.

Iniesta earned 131 caps for Spain, won two European Championships (2008 and 2012) and the World Cup in 2010 where he scored the winning goal in the final against Holland.