Jesse Lingard has said he would not be playing for Manchester United and England if it wasn't for his weightlifting grandad and Sir Alex Ferguson.
Lingard has revealed all in his blog on Players' Tribune where he speaks about how he made it to the top of the game.
The 26-year-old attacker lived with his nan and grandad when progressing through the ranks at boyhood side United and it was the latter who pushed him on.
He wrote: 'Listen, I know everyone talks about Sir Alex's hair-dryer treatments. I've heard all the stories from back in the day. They were legendary. But you've never seen a beasting until you've seen my grandad doing his thing.
'This was a different level, mate.
'You've gotta understand, my grandad is proper old school. He wasn't even a football man, really. In his younger days, he was a rugby player and a powerlifter for Team Great Britain. He didn't go full-on into football until after I was born and I started kicking about with my little ladybug floater football.
'We got pictures of me at 14 months with the red-and-black floater. Was still in my nappies. Could barely walk. But I was banging 'em top bins in the brown suede sofa in his living room.'
Lingard was so spurred on by his grandad that he asked his Manchester United academy coach if he could start lifting weights at the bottom of his garden when he was just nine.
He adds: 'I remember when I was like nine years old, I went into Tony Whelan's office and I said, "Um, sir, can I start doing some weights? My grandad wants to know".
'And Tony was like, "No, son. You can't".
'I said, "Oh, how come?"
'He said, "Because you're nine".'
At one stage Lingard thought he wasn't going to make the grade at Manchester United as the attacking midfielder was loaned out to Leicester, Birmingham, Brighton and Derby in consecutive years.
However, Sir Alex Ferguson personally sought out Lingard to tell the then Red Devils starlet that he would have to bide his time due to his smaller frame.
He recalls: 'Honestly, I don't think I'd be here if it weren't for Sir Alex. If it weren't for the main man. One day, he had a meeting with me and my family.
'He sat us down in his office and he said, "It's going to take a while for you, Jesse. We believe in you. But you're going to have to be patient. You're not going to be ready for the first team until you're 22 or 23".
'I can't even tell you how massive that was for me and my family. You'd think I'd be disappointed, but when an absolute legend like Sir Alex says they believe in you, that means everything. He didn't have to meet with us, and he didn't have to say that to me.
'But that's why he's Sir Alex, and that's why Man United is Man United.'