England Under-21s boss Gareth Southgate has hailed the development of Jesse Lingard at Manchester United this season.
The 22-year-old has edged Memphis Depay out of the Red Devils' starting lineup over the past two weeks due to the quality of his displays, scoring his first United goal in their 2-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Southgate has admitted that he was stunned that no team tried to lure the forward away from Old Trafford after seeing his performances for the Young Lions at the European Under-21 Championships in the summer.
He told reporters: "I'm amazed they weren't inundated with more bids to prise him away in the summer, especially having played as well as he did in the Europeans. We are not surprised because we have liked him from the off.
"Physically he has been a late developer and we think there is still some physical growth to come but he's an intelligent footballer and he will carry out the role he's asked to do, which I think the manager there will quite like. He is at a club where you know you have to perform every week but over the years that's how the youngsters there have been raised.
"They know they're going to have to perform in front of 70,000 people and that brings expectations and he's got the shirt at the moment and knowing him he'll do whatever it takes to hold onto it. People at the club, for a long time, stuck with him at a time where he was a small one."
Lingard has made seven appearances for Louis van Gaal's men this season.
Simon Sinclair
