When Jesse Lingard wasn’t selected for any of Manchester United’s opening eight league games this season, there were no protests from United fans. The 25-year-old wasn’t a favourite and was considered more useful as a squad player, despite scoring some vital and quite fantastic goals in his United career (including the winner in the FA Cup Final in 2016).

His eventual selection, for the ninth game of the season at Huddersfield Town, unfortunately coincided with United’s first defeat. Somehow that chimed in with the opinion of critics that Lingard wasn’t United class. He became a scapegoat for some, who felt he'd had an easy ride because he was a local boy raised only ten miles across the lush Cheshire Plain in Warrington from United’s Carrington training ground.

“Which of our rivals’ teams would Lingard get in?” asked his critics dismissively.

“£100,000 a week for what?” demanded angry men with hundreds of hours' experience on Football Manager, but none in actual professional football.

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If Manchester United’s managers listened to the less patient elements of the club’s support, they’d have no players left as they’d all have been sold at the first downturn in form. Antonio Valencia and Marcos Rojo would long have been sent the same way as Jonny Evans or Danny Welbeck.

But the critics had a point: Lingard had scored one league goal in the whole of last season and was being paid a lot. Even some of those who’d played with him or watched him come through the ranks from the age of 12 at United privately questioned whether he’d be a United star rather than a squad player.

In contrast to his early season absences, Lingard has started in eight of the last nine games. Whereas £30million Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been sent to the naughty step after too many anaemic performances, youth product Lingard has been given a chance, taken it and flourished.

Lingard has scored seven – often cracking – goals in those nine games since the end of November. Only record-breaking Harry Kane has scored more – and Kane is a proper striker.

Lingard has set up a couple more too. He has more goals and assists per minutes on the pitch than Kane or Coutinho this season and the same – a goal or assist every 84 minutes – as the more lauded Raheem Sterling. He’s also got more league goals than Kevin De Bruyne or Dele Alli.

Throw in Lingard’s three League Cup goals and his total rises to ten from 12 starts. He might have had another against Real Madrid in Macedonia had Paul Pogba seen him screaming for the ball in space rather than take a shot which typically flew miles over and was last seen on its way to Albania.

Lingard has become a key United player in two months. His confidence has soared and if he’s not playing a central role, he has been given licence to cut inside from the left by his manager who wanted another left-sided player at the start of the season, Ivan Perisic.

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And there’s also the quality of those goals to consider. United’s best goal of 2017 was Lingard’s at Middlesbrough in March. He loves to shoot, to entertain, but it’s his work ethic that really endears him to his manager. He’ll defend, he’s tactically astute. There’s more running in Lingard than every Strava in Manchester. So much running that he drags players out of position and creates space, as he did for Pogba to set up Martial for United’s opener against Everton on New Year’s Day.

Lingard’s latest – another brilliant strike already a contender for goal of the season – came at Goodison Park on Monday as United started the year with a convincing win after four hugely disappointing games without one. Afterwards, Lingard ran to the 3,000 away fans on the two tiers of the wooden Bullens Road stand and jumped up in celebration.

In the Goodison rain, he combined so well with Pogba and Martial that Romelu Lukaku, who was on a mission to beat Harry Kane’s goals count this season, was not missed. Maybe Lukaku’s absence, after a sickening clash of heads at Southampton, was a blessing for United’s unshackled attack which looked faster with more options. And yet Lukaku is still expected to start against Derby County, where Lingard had a loan spell, in the FA Cup on Friday night.

With Lukaku jaded and Zlatan Ibrahimović injured, the Lingard option in United’s attack is a much needed one. Along with his pace and eye for a goal, he can do what Roy Keane always said was the hardest thing to do on a football pitch – to beat a man.

United should be praised for the way they’ve handled Lingard, right back from when he was smaller than the rest of his age group at 14. They felt that disadvantage actually aided him as it made him more determined and stronger mentally. The coaches who worked with him long claimed he was best playing off the front or coming in off the left on his right foot. Rio Ferdinand always picked Lingard out as the player he felt would become a star.

Lingard is living the dream, a local boy thriving in United’s first team – though he could probably do without more tabloid exposés about his private life.

Kids love his dancing celebrations, even if granddads don’t because that’s not what players did in their age. But times have changed and Lingard can celebrate how ever he likes if he keeps playing as he is.

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Lingard has appeared eight times for England since his debut in October 2016. He’s not made the same impact for his country as his club, but then playing for a side set up to draw 0-0 in every game is hardly going to get the best from his talents.

Gareth Southgate does like him and if he carries on like this then he has to go to the World Cup as a starter. He, Kane, Sterling and his close mate Marcus Rashford have some potential, but let’s not get carried away with England and potential given their wretched record. United fans would be quite satisfied if Lingard didn’t go to Russia, but he’s doing so well that that looks unlikely. But first, he should have plenty more football to play this term for his club.

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