Ole: Jesse wants to fight for his place
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants to see more of the 'true' Jesse Lingard, with the Manchester United attacking midfielder ready to 'fight for his place' at the club.
Lingard spent the second half of last season on loan at fellow Premier League club West Ham United and thrived, scoring nine goals and making five assists in 16 appearances for the Hammers.
He's now returned to United and played the second half of the Reds' 2-1 friendly victory against Derby County on Sunday afternoon, hitting the bar with one spectacular effort.
"Jesse has come back, he’s been bright and he wants to fight for his place," Solskjaer commented in a post-match press conference.
Highlights: Derby 1 United 2
Goals from Chong and Pellistri helped the Reds to victory at Pride Park on Sunday...
"There’s nothing better than seeing players willing to fight for their place. Of course, what he did towards the end of the season, that is the true Jesse.
"That’s what we know he is capable of. I think we saw towards the end [of our own season] that we lacked maybe some options at times.
"He's still in my plans. I expect him at Man Utd at the start of the season."
It was certainly a bright performance from Lingard, who struck that fierce right-footed curler in the second half that rocketed back off the crossbar.
Another highlight was a wonderful crossfield ball that set Hannibal up in the penalty area, as the former Rams loanee looked in great shape considering he only joined in pre-season training again at the end of the week.
The England international has clearly worked hard throughout the summer, to make an impression on Solskjaer and the coaching staff.
That'll continue now with United heading for a training camp before next Saturday's friendly away at Queen's Park Rangers, which is again live on MUTV.