Man Utd ready to lose last season’s ‘next big thing’ for Depay
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During the dreadful early days of David Moyes’ reign at Manchester United last season, when the then-Premier League champions lost five of their first 15 games of the campaign, winning just six times during that run, one bright spot was the emergence of classy Belgian teenager Adnan Januzaj.
The young forward pulled the Red Devils out of the fire in his first top-flight start for the club, bagging twice in a 2-1 come-from-behind victory at Sunderland, and performed a notable cameo role a few games later, when helping drag United back from the brink against Stoke to win, having come on with his side 2-1 down.
18 months is a helluva long time in football, and Januzaj’s inability to fit into Louis van Gaal’s system at Old Trafford has stalled his career considerably.
To be fair, the Iron Tulip’s system can’t accommodate more than one forward that doesn’t have electric pace, a category Januzaj and Juan Mata both fall into.
With the Spaniard clearly Van Gaal’s preferred option, the 20-year-old has started only seven Premier League games this term, ending up on the winning side just three times – at home to Burnley, Leicester and Crystal Palace.
It’s debatable whether Januzaj has any future at all at United, but they seem keen to ship him out on loan this summer, with Everton regularly mentioned as a potential destination.
The latest rumour talkSPORT are floating is that that he could be a valuable makeweight in any deal for PSV goal machine Memphis Depay.
The radio station’s website carries quotes from PSV sporting director Marcel Brands:
“If such a player like Adnan Januzaj would like to come and play Champions League football, you have a chance of making a temporary move.”
It’s an odd and ambiguous quote, but with United seemingly in the driving seat for Depay’s signature, Januzaj could be off.
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