Long thought to be one of Manchester United’s greatest prospects following his arrival from Anderlecht, Adnan Januzaj even lived up to the hype for a little bit when he burst onto the scene under David Moyes.
However, the Louis Van Gaal era wasn’t anywhere near as kind to the Belgian forward, who ended up going on loan to Borussia Dortmund for a brief period, before returning with his tail between his legs, having failed to have an impact in Germany.
Then came José Mourinho, who, after using the player during pre-season, decided a loan to Sunderland, where David Moyes took over, might be the best route for the 21-year-old.
Eight games and one goal against Shrewsbury in the EFL Cup later, and many are still waiting to see the youngster recapture his early Manchester United form.
His early exit in 2011 hurt Anderlecht, who had helped him develop his game from the age of 10 onwards, and according to the Belgian club’s general manager, the agreement to let him leave might have been a rather spiteful one.
Speaking to Sport/Foot Magazine about the number of youngsters the club let go in the summer, Herman Van Holsbeeck said: “Is Iseka (Michy Batshuayi’s brother) playing at Marseille? By letting them go, we also wanted to show them to grass isn’t always greener elsewhere.
“And we can also go further back: Musonda (contracted to Chelsea), is he playing at Betis Seville? Januzaj, same thing.”
While Anderlecht were reported to have picked up around £300k from Manchester United in the Januzaj transfer, there is no doubt they would have preferred to keep hold of him and play him in their first team, to then sell him for a lot more.
Just like they’ll most likely do with a certain Youri Tielemans.
