Manchester United’s Adnan Januzaj was the only bright light of the David Moyes era, but it seems that he hasn’t really kicked on from then. Still at the young age of 21, it would be wrong to write him off as not having fulfilled the potential everyone saw in him.
Yet there’s a feeling that he’s running out of time to prove himself worthy of a Manchester United shirt so how does he fit in to Mourinho’s plans? Will the new coach make sure this is Adnan’s breakthrough season and that he finally becomes a regular for the team? The signs seem to point in the opposite direction.
With the two new signings, Ibrahimovic and Mkhitaryan, coming into the squad it seems they’ll be walking straight into the starting eleven. It also seems likely that Martial and Rooney will form the rest of the front four so just where does Januzaj fit in?
Mourinho has already stated that Rooney will play just behind Ibrahimovic in Januzaj’s preferred number 10 role, while Mkhitaryan, who like Januzaj is capable of performing in any of the top four positions, seems to be playing in the position Januzaj has previously been deployed at most- the right wing. There’s an argument to be made that Januzaj isn’t even a winger in the first place.
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Coming through the United academy, he spent most of his playing time just behind the striker and occasionally filling in as a deep lying midfielder. It was David Moyes who decided to play him on the right wing when the team seemed to lack players in that position. The club’s more established wingers- Nani, Valencia and Young- weren’t performing, and so Januzaj got his chance to shine.
While he is capable of doing a job there, it’s well known that he performs best just behind the striker, where his key attributes- vision and the ability to pass- really stand out. Do the new signings and sudden strength in depth mean that Januzaj will be playing understudy to Mkhitaryan, who has already impressed, and could he find himself behind Lingard and Mata in the wait for opportunities too?
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At Januzaj’s current age he needs crucial first team game time to develop into the player everyone knows he can become. All signs indicate that he’s not going to get enough minutes, so it might be best that he leaves on loan, and this time a successful one. Last season it was clear that Januzaj was sick of not being played under Louis van Gaal and according to the former manager he asked to leave to Dortmund believing he’d play more.
If Januzaj is still impatient then it would make sense to send him to someone that the club knows would give him first team, Premier League game time. The perfect place would be Sunderland- with some of United’s players, such as Danny Welbeck, previously having had successful loan spells there then it makes sense as a destination.
This is especially true since David Moyes was confirmed as the Black Cats’ manager. It is well known that he admires Januzaj, claiming that he instantly knew that the young Belgian was immediately ready for the Premier League. Perhaps Januzaj misses this faith, and maybe working under Moyes would help him develop to a position from which he can make a claim for a position back in United’s starting eleven.
It is likely that Moyes will give him the freedom to play wherever he likes due to a lack of quality in Sunderland’s team, and because they will be gearing up to battle against relegation once again. Mourinho is known to have a preferred starting eleven and doesn’t often move away from that, rarely rotating his most trusted players. If Januzaj isn’t one of them it’s likely that he’ll waste another season on the bench, while the potential player he could become remains elusive.
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This season is crucial to his development so he needs to make sure every single minute counts. It appears that every player at United is now fighting for his position, so Januzaj must battle too, and not wither away into the darkness of unfulfilled potential.