Birmingham City saw what was to come with future Man Utd, England star - St Andrew's moment was memorable | OneFootball

There was no doubt where the Manchester United youngster was heading after a Blues debut for the ages

There was little doubt in Birmingham City quarters about what kind of player Manchester United loanee Jesse Lingard would go on to become.

He joined the Blues as a 20-year-old on a month-long loan deal and wasted no time in proving his talent.

Lingard would need a couple more loans before he broke into the Reds’ first team, but he was already showing signs with Birmingham.

For those who witnessed his Blues debut, it was no shock to see him rise all the way to becoming an England international and a mainstay in the Premier League for many years.

Manchester United wanted Jesse Lingard out to gain some experience

At 20 years old, Lingard had just five senior professional games under his belt in a temporary spell at Leicester City, without registering a goal involvement.

He had played in the club’s pre-season tour in 2013, and had won the FA Youth Cup with United’s academy a couple of years previously, but the club felt it was now the time for Lingard to begin transitioning into the senior game.

Birmingham were in desperate need, experiencing their worst start to a season for 25 years at that point, having scored just four times in seven games.

Lingard would soon correct that course.

Jesse Lingard wasted no time making an impression at Birmingham City

Having managed to get Lingard in, then-manager Lee Clark threw him in for the Blues’ league game against Sheffield Wednesday. It’s a decision he wouldn’t regret.

The 20-year-old took just 20 minutes to net his first goal, but even more impressively, he’d notched a jaw-dropping three additional goals before the hour mark.

He would go on to score two more goals and provide three more assists in the slightly extended stay in the Midlands, before signing off with a straight red card against Wigan Athletic.

It wasn’t an ideal way to cap off a breakout loan spell, but Blues fans had seen enough to know what a special talent Lingard was.

Jesse Lingard went on to have an incredible career

The winger may never be considered among the pinnacle of some of the United legends the club have seen at Old Trafford, but that shouldn’t diminish the immense career he built for himself.

He managed an incredible 232 appearances for his boyhood club, scoring 35 times and providing 21 assists, perhaps the most memorable being his volley in the FA Cup final to win the trophy for United against Crystal Palace.

Not only that, he also racked up 32 caps for England, a feat some incredibly talented English players cannot come close to matching.

The bulk of his career would be spent with the Reds, before moves to West Ham, Nottingham Forest and then FC Seoul. Granted, Lingard's stock has fallen in recent years - ever since that memorable loan spell in East London, truth be told - but, now aged 32, he can still reflect on an impressive career spent primarily within football's higher echelons, having won one FA Cup, one UEFA Europa League and one League Cup during his time at Old Trafford.

It’s an incredible career, but nothing more than those Blues fans present for that Birmingham debut against the Owls, running rings around grown men, having only just left his teenage years behind.