This weekend was one of huge magnitude for young Belgian talent Adnan Januzaj. He was handed his first Manchester United start and repaid David Moyes with a brilliantly-taken brace against a lowly Sunderland. Now, with talks of a new £50,000-per-week contract at Old Trafford, I have decided to take a look at whether or not he is the real deal, using limited statistics.
It’s likely to be the case that he gets a little run of games on the United wing now after his impressive performance at the weekend. The former Anderlecht winger had six shots at goal, scoring twice, and completed 5/7 of his take ons. At just 18 years of age, there is a sense of willingness and no hint of fear within his skinny little legs, which younger players tend to show – which is a huge positive.
He completed 84% of his passes, which was a huge improvement from his 53% against West Brom. He has averaged a 50% shot accuracy over his three league appearances won 72% of his duels – including 2/3 of his tackles and 10/13 of his take ons.
The statistics only go a little way to show how impressive this youngster is, and if you watched him against Sunderland and in pre season you will know that. Does Januzaj has what it takes to become a Manchester United great? Too right.