The England international joined us for the latest edition of our 'My Inspiration' series, where the senior players talk about who helped them reach the top and how they were inspired along the way.
Jesse was keen to stress just how encouraging it was to see several young local lads in Sir Alex Ferguson's team during the late 90s and early 2000s, as the Reds won trophy after trophy.
Lingard was then just an aspiring young Warrington kid in the United Academy, but he watched on closely as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers blazed a trail for homegrown footballers.