Jesse Lingard was not part of Man U’s plans last season. The player was sent on a loan spell to West Ham, where he showed an outstanding performance and made the Red Devils rethink the player’s situation.

Now that his loan spell is over, Man U wants the player to be an essential part of the team for next season.

Boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer praised the player after the Red Devils’ pre-season win over Derby. “Jesse has come back, been bright; he wants to fight for his place. We lacked some options at times [last season]. Jesse is in the plans at the moment,” said Solskjaer.

Manchester United start Bruno Fernandes also praised Lingad and said, “If you see Jesse, I think Jesse, at the moment, if you watch the last 10 games, has been top, top, top level. Everybody here is really, really happy for him. He has confidence back, he has his swag back, because he is feeling confident. We are really, really happy for what he’s doing.”

But Lingard is of interest to other clubs. Everton and especially their new manager Rafa Benitez are impressed with the player’s performance and want him for their team.

For Benitez, the 28-year-old player would be the perfect complement to play alongside Dominic Calvert-Lewin and feed him more balls.

The Toffes have already signed Andros Townsend from Crystal Palace, and Lingard would be the next priority.

But it seems that Everton will not have an easy time securing Lingard’s services as the Red Devils want to keep the player, especially as Marcus Rashford is still recovering from his shoulder injury.