For several months now I have been singing the praises of a young Belgian lad who goes by the name Adnan Januzaj. Now it seems that my hopes for the young lad are coming to fruition as he appears to have taken to the Premier League like a duck to water.
He was one of a select few youngsters taken on our pre season tour to Asia and he has gone from strength to strength since. Both he and Wilfried Zaha were superb on tour, setting up and scoring goals aplenty. With his cultured left foot and silky dribbling, David Moyes clearly saw potential in the lad. This was the same potential that Sir Alex Ferguson saw when he named him on the bench for his final game ever as United manager against West Brom.
He now appears to have almost secured a regular place on our bench at least, with a few starts lobbed in between. Against Crystal Palace, he came off the bench and troubled the defence for the entire time before winning the free kick that Wayne Rooney eventually scored from. Then, last week, came his finest hour in a United shirt. He was named in our starting lineup for the first time in a competitive game and did not disappoint.
After Sunderland took a shocking lead following an interesting piece of defending by Nemanja Vidic and Phil Jones, it looked like it was going to be a bleak week again. However, it was our newest star that saved Moyes and the rest of the team from another humiliating defeat. First of all, he burst into the box around 60 minutes in and hit a low cross first time with his weaker right foot when it seemed easier to hit it left-footed; sending the ball crashing past Kieron Westwood in the Sunderland goal. Following that, he scored again several minutes later. This goal topped his previous go by quite a long way. A cross came in from the right and was partially cleared away from a Sunderland head; only to fall straight into Adnan’s path. He hit it with impeccable technique first time, to send it into the far corner of the Sunderland goal and win the game for us.
Where next for Adnan Januzaj? Both internationally and domestically? He only has a few months remaining on his Old Trafford contract and names such as Barcelona, Chelsea and Man City have been linked with his signature. Of course, he is not a player we can afford to let go, especially following our regretful losses of Paul Pogba and Ravel Morrison. The sooner we can tie him down to a long term deal, the better.
Internationally, even more questions are being raised. He is eligible to play for Belgium, Serbia, Turkey, Kosovo and in a few years, England. The England link is one that has raised controversy, most namely with Jack Wilshere and Kevin Pietersen over Twitter. His most likely option is looking like Belgium, the country of his birth. In a few years time, Januzaj, Bakkali and Hazard will be fighting it out to start on the wings for the national side. Whichever side he chooses to play for, I’m sure he will have a very successful career, especially if he remains at Old Trafford.
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