The Rise Of Man Utd Wonderkid Adnan Januzaj

A thoughtful, insightful interviewee, Robin van Persie sifts his words carefully before answering a question. So, when the experienced Dutchman fielded a query about 18-year-old prodigy Adnan Januzaj after last month’s victory over Stoke City, his response was stirring.

RvP on Januzaj

“Over the years I’ve seen so many young players,” he began, then paused to sensecheck his next statement before continuing: “and I can honestly say that of all the young players I’ve seen he is right up there in the top one or two.” Having emerged from Feyenoord’s youth setup and overseen repeated crops of burgeoning youngsters at Arsenal’s celebrated Academy, van Persie has seen raw talent at its rarest. His conclusion is shared by almost anybody who has seen Januzaj in action: the boy is indeed a bit special. A pristinely groomed, slight young man with a tongue-twisting name and a blood-twisting nature, Adnan needed just a handful of senior outings this season to turn the faintest local murmurings about a potential star into a worldwide buzz around the poster boy of David Moyes’ new Old Trafford regime.

Graceful, poised and bold, Januzaj has leapt onto the stage and straight into the spotlight in the early scenes of the next act in United’s history. Prior to this season, he made just 39 appearances and scored three goals across the Reds’ under-18s and under-21s teams after his 2011 arrival. His ascent is on present merit rather than any sizeable run-up. It is the teenager’s promise which has yielded a new, five-year contract, signed with much fanfare and celebration last month, in exactly the same manner that his initial recruitment was seen as a tremendous boon within United’s Academy. Then, as recently, there was widespread interest in ensnaring a special talent. 

The Reds’ Belgian-based scout Alex Verveckken contacted the club in August 2010, after witnessing Januzaj in action for Anderlecht in a youth tournament at KV Mechelen in Belgium. “After that, most of Brian McClair’s staff travelled to Belgium over the next few weeks to watch Adnan play,” recalls the club’s regional and European recruitment officer, Geoff Watson. “It meant everybody pulling together. All of us were impressed with what we saw, and we recommended that the Academy should try to sign him as soon as possible. The general opinion from the Academy was that Adnan was a player with very high potential. With signing such players, things arerarely easy, but this one was different.

“Adnan only wanted to sign for Manchester United and that’s the truth. There was loads of competition – there is all the time – and the boy and his family deserve full credit for the fact that they just wanted to come to Manchester United. It was a real coup for the Academy.” Januzaj moved to Manchester in March 2011, only to find his patience immediately tested by bureaucratic issues. “I had to wait for the paperwork to come through on the transfer,” he said. “It was just a case of training hard, even though I wasn’t playing, and just thinking: ‘I don’t know but maybe tomorrow it will come through’. So I was just hoping to do my best.”

Starved of action for the remainder of the 2010/11 campaign and the start of the following season, Adnan finally made his bow for Paul McGuinness’ under-18s in October 2011 and operated impressively as either a striker or support striker. His steady form was cruelly curtailed after just 11 outings, however, by a serious knee injury. “I had never had an injury before and that was the first one,” recalled the teenager, whose rehabilitation included a spell at Nike HQ in Portland. “You learn a lot when you are injured. The gym helps as well because you are getting stronger and doing different things that are all parts of football. So it was actually a good experience even if I hope not to be injured again! After that, I came back and wanted to show the coaches what I could do.”

While it was under-21s manager Warren Joyce who was given the most sustained contact with Januzaj during his six-month battle for fitness, Sir Alex Ferguson also keenly monitored the youngster’s recovery. Just six days after making his second-string debut against Accrington Stanley in August 2012’s Lancashire Senior Cup final, Januzaj travelled with Ferguson’s senior squad to a pre-season friendly at Aberdeen.

Although the travelling party comprised a mish-mash of current and former players, his 45-minute cameo demonstrated an invaluable maturity and confidence. Quinton Fortune, one of his team-mates at Pittodrie, insists that even then, the youngster’s card had been marked. “Everyone knew that he was special,” said the South African. “Adnan was making so much progress and when he went to train with the first team, the lads were talking about him.”

Over the course of the 2012/13 campaign proper, Adnan laid bare his assets across 24 injury-free outings for Joyce’s side and a further four starts in the under-18s. Superior football intelligence elevated him above opponents, while his arsenal of trickery, balletic balance and deft use of the ball took him past them. Operating largely as a striker, Januzaj split his only pair of under-21s goals across successive outings against Southampton and Oldham in February this year. A week later, after again catching the eye alongside Nick Powell in a 2-2 draw with Arsenal’s youngsters, Adnan’s potential was underlined when Ferguson labelled both Januzaj and Powell: “definite Manchester United first-team players.”

Joyce’s all-conquering side provided an ideal preparatory platform for those readying themselves for the demands for regular silverware at first-team level. Adnan starred as the Reds won the inaugural Barclays U21 Premier League and the Manchester Senior Cup, before picking up the Denzil Haroun Reserve Team Player of the Year award. Further reward followed four days later with a shock call-up to Sir Alex’s final squad. Though the 18-year-old remained on the bench throughout the 5-5 draw with West Brom, his presence in the background of Ferguson’s farewell pictures signified a discreet nod to the future amid a celebration of history.

Charged with leading the post-Ferguson United, David Moyes took office on 1 July and, within a fortnight, had named the Brussels-born talent in his first team selection against Thailand’s Singha All-Stars. Appearances in each leg of the Reds’ tour of Asia and Australia spoke volumes for Moyes’ belief in the player, whose competitive debut came in the Community Shield victory over Wigan Athletic.

A substitute in home meetings with Crystal Palace, Liverpool and West Brom, Januzaj was creating a buzz that grew incrementally each time he picked up possession. Blessed with bravery, purpose and skill, his talent naturally struck a chord with an Old Trafford audience entertained by some of the very best. It was on enemy turf, though, that Januzaj came to the fore with a match-winning full debut at Sunderland, a display embossed by two classy finishes which, while stunning in their execution, were no surprise to his manager.

“Starting Adnan certainly wasn’t a gamble for me,” insisted Moyes. “I see him in training every day, I saw him on tour and actually he’s even got better since coming back. He’s looked as good as anybody in training so I thought he deserved to play. I remember giving Wayne Rooney and Ross Barkley their debuts and Adnan is certainly in that quality.”

The international bunfight for Januzaj’s allegiance certainly bears out such praise, with England rivalling Belgium, Kosovo, Albania, Serbia, Turkey and Croatia to claim the 18-year-old as their own. Speculation continues to rage around his international future, while his eye-catching start to club football has brought comparisons with youthful iterations of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and more besides. For van Persie, comparisons are meaningless.

“When I go back 10 years to when I was quite young, I see similar attributes,” said the Dutchman.  “He’s confident in a good way. He’s not too bothered with the whole occasion or the pressure of the games. I was very confident as well and I see some stuff in him and the choices he makes that I made when I was younger as well. But he’s not the new van Persie, he’s the new Adnan. He’s a great player and I’m a great fan of his. I thought earlier in pre-season that he has something special. He will give Manchester United a great bunch of goals and great games. He’s a special player.” 

Caution must always be exercised with young talents who will inevitably undulate in form, and the bare facts state that Januzaj is only 18 with a handful of senior outings to his name. His United career is only in its infancy, but there is the sense around Old Trafford that it could be the start of something very special.