Jesse Lingard has been in blistering form this season - and it's emerged that both Ruud van Nistelrooy and Diego Forlan were impressed by the Warrington lad when he was a youngster, and the pair were in the first-team at United.
A boyhood United fan, Lingard has been with United since was seven years of his age and is now living his dream as a regular in Jose Mourinho's side.
René Meulensteen, who became a key figure in Sir Alex Ferguson's backroom staff at United, coached the 25-year old when he was in the academy set-up.
In a brilliant interview with Bleacher Report, the Dutchman, who had a short and unsuccessful stint as Fulham manager, revealed that Lingard caught the eye of van Nistelrooy and Forlan whenever they watched his sessions.
"I can recall players like Ruud van Nistelrooy and Diego Forlan coming down to watch our sessions, and when they saw Jesse both said, 'Jesus, this boy is good!'"
Lingard had to bide his time and wait for his run in the United side after a couple of loan spells in the Championship, but became part of the squad under Louis van Gaal and memorably scored the winner in the 2016 FA Cup final.
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He's gone from strength to strength under Jose Mourinho, notching again at Wembley in the League Cup final in the Portuguese's first season in charge.
But this season, particularly of late, Lingard's form has gone up another gear entirely, having scored 11 in 29 games this term and established himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet.
Meulensteen says he always thought the United No.14 would be England's answer to Andres Iniesta. Seriously, he wasn't joking.
"I saw so many similarities in their games, and I always believed that Jesse was the English Andres Iniesta.
"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."
Lingard has been on fire in the last few months but those comments from Meulensteen are a bit mental and it's no surprise they've caused a bit of a stir.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Football, Manchester United, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Sir Alex Ferguson, Andres Iniesta, Premier League, Diego Forlan, Jesse Lingard