Jesse Lingard’s England display outlines Manchester United’s wealth of attacking options

Jesse Lingard of England celebrates with Bukayo Saka against Andora at Wembley Stadium
Jesse Lingard of England celebrates with Bukayo Saka against Andora at Wembley Stadium

Manchester United attacking midfielder Jesse Lingard has handed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a major selection dilemma with his performance against Andorra earlier today.

The 28-year-old scored a brace for England and sent out an emphatic statement that he is prepared to fight for his place at Old Trafford this season.

The Red Devils are well stocked in the attacking department this season and the signings of Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo has only added more quality and depth to Solskjaer’s attacking unit.

Very few teams across Europe have the attacking depth and quality of Manchester United and it will be interesting to see which players can force their way into the starting lineup over the coming weeks.

Lingard struggled for regular game time at Manchester United last season and the Red Devils decided to loan him out to West Ham United during the second half of the season.

The 28-year-old impressed with his performances at the London club and he was linked with a permanent move to the Hammers this summer.

However, Lingard chose to continue at Old Trafford and his performances for this country will surely hand Solskjaer a selection headache in the upcoming matches. Daniel James decided to leave Old Trafford in order to play regularly earlier on in the summer and it remains to be seen whether Lingard’s gamble pays off.

The Norwegian manager will have to accommodate the likes of Edinson Cavani, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood as well.

It is fair to assume that Sancho and Ronaldo will be regular starters at the Premier League club given their stature in the game and the amounts of money Manchester United have shelled out for them.

The likes of Rashford, Greenwood, Lingard and Cavani will have to battle it out for the third and final attacking berth in the starting lineup.

Increased competition for places can only be good news for Manchester United as it would push the players to perform at a high level consistently.

Lingard will be hoping to cement his place in the England national team set up before the World Cup and he needs to play regularly in order for that to happen.

It remains to be seen how his situation unfolds at Old Trafford over the next few months now that Solskjaer has six top-class attackers at his disposal.