Lingard has lost his England spot and his Man Utd future is in doubt

Rewind to the summer of 2018 and Jesse Lingard was starring for England as one of their main playmakers with Gareth Southgate a big admirer of the Manchester United midfielder.

Lingard, who has been capped 24 times by his country, started against Tunisia and Panama — who he scored against — in the Three Lions' opening two World Cup group games in Russia before being rested against Belgium.

He then started in the knockout games against Colombia, Sweden and Croatia with the famous No 7 shirt on his back.

Lingard was ahead of his close friend Marcus Rashford in what was Southgate's preferred 3-5-2 formation.

Fast forward to the present day and Lingard looks set to be left out of Southgate's 23-man squad for the European Championship altogether.

Mason Mount, James Maddison and Callum Hudson-Odoi are just some of the players who have overtaken Lingard on the international scene since the Three Lions crashed out of the World Cup at the semi-final stage.

Lingard is still being selected to start for Manchester United despite the fact he failed to score or claim an assist in the Premier League during the whole of 2019.

Most managers would choose to discard a player who fails to deliver during an entire calendar year but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes he will be back to his best sooner rather than later.

Solskjaer said ahead of Tuesday's Carabao Cup fixture against Manchester City:  'Jesse has had his ups and downs, as I've spoken about before,' he said. 'But against City and Tottenham there were two examples of how important he can be for us in different games.

'We want him back scoring and making assists. No one runs as much and he's a great trigger for our pressing game. He's a lively bubbly character but I don't think you see as much social media from Jesse as you used to. He's got his head down, he's working hard and getting back to the Jesse I knew.'

The 27-year-old, who earns more than £100,000-a-week, was warned by Solskjaer to tone down his social media use after posting a video of his friend simulating a sex act on a bed.

Lingard exclusively told Sportsmail in December that he didn't mean to post the video to his followers as he meant to send it privately to his friends.

He said: 'It genuinely was a mistake to post it. I have a lot of young followers and I would never put that out there deliberately. It was an accident. I was meaning to send it privately to one of my friends. I was on a plane waiting to take off. Someone from the club texted me and said: "Take the video down".

'When I realised what I had done, my heart just sank into my stomach. I was like, "I am done at United now. This is the final straw".

'I was told the manager was going mad but I was in the air for two hours and literally couldn't do anything. When I got back I came in early to speak to the manager and apologise. He said I was on my last chance. He said I had to get my head down and that is what I have done. I am not stupid.

'There is no way I was going to let what I have at this club be taken away. On the whole I have cut down on my social media stuff now. You do what you have to do.'

Despite cutting down his social media activity, Lingard is still struggling in front of goal with his one-on-one miss against Watford highlighting his current deficiencies.

Sir Alex Ferguson predicted Lingard's skills would blossom at a late age because of his slight frame but he wouldn't have foreseen his rapid decline too.

Instead of being thrown straight into the deep end like Rashford, Lingard was farmed out on loan to Leicester, Birmingham and Brighton.

Louis van Gaal then gave Lingard his big chance by handing him his competitive debut against Swansea during the opening day of the 2014-15 season.

The Manchester United man suffered a severe knee injury just when it looked like Lingard was going to be given a consistent run in the team.

Lingard was shipped back out on loan in February 2015, this time to Derby where he scored two goals in 15 games for the Rams.

He later repaid Van Gaal's faith with an extra-time FA Cup final winner against Crystal Palace, which remains and will probably always be his finest moment in a Manchester United shirt.

A goal in the League Cup final against Southampton won Jose Mourinho's trust while Lingard's last Premier League strike came in Solskjaer's first game on December 22 when he netted a brace.

Lingard, who also revealed to Sportsmail that he had been affected by his mum's poor health, is still missing the magic which saw him become an England regular.

He now has just one more year on his current United deal with an option of a second if the club choose to take up the option.

The fact that Lingard has enlisted the services of agent Mino Raiola, which Sportsmail exclusively revealed, may hint at the fact that he is now thinking about life after United.

Raiola's main strength is facilitating moves for his clients with the likes of Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Moise Kean in his talent pool.

The timing of his agreement with Raiola, an agent who has been highly critical of Manchester United, could mean they are testing the waters to see who would be interested in him come the summer.

Reports last week suggested Lingard could be used as a makeweight in a deal which would see James Maddison move in the opposite direction.

A fresh start might be exactly what Lingard needs unless he can rediscover his form between now and the summer.

If he doesn't then he might not have a choice over an Old Trafford exit.