Manchester United transfer news: Adnan Januzaj upset with treatment and hoping for foreign loan

The Belgium international is unhappy with being forced to train with the United reserves and is weighing up his options for this season

Jack Pitt-Brooke
Wednesday 10 August 2016 22:20 BST
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Januzaj is unlikely to be kept on by Mourinho
Januzaj is unlikely to be kept on by Mourinho

Adnan Januzaj feels humiliated by his treatment by Manchester United and is in no rush to comply with their wishes for him to join Sunderland on loan.

The 21-year-old forward's career has stalled at Old Trafford, and he barely played any senior football in the second half of last season. Januzaj would like to stay at United and prove himself but Jose Mourinho does not want him to be part of his first-team squad for the season. This means that Januzaj has been banished from the main group to train with the development squad, which Januzaj is understood to have taken exception to. He has been getting changed by himself on the way to training rather than using the facilities for senior professionals at Carrington.

United have no desire to sell Januzaj, who still has two years left on his contract, and would rather loan him out this year for him to get Premier League experience, before deciding on his future next summer. Sunderland are the keenest club to sign him. They are now managed by David Moyes, who gave Januzaj his first real run as a United first-teamer during his brief spell in charge during the 2013-14 season.

While Sunderland is still the likeliest destination for Januzaj, the Belgian international is thought to prefer the prospect of a loan move to Serie A or La Liga instead. That raises the prospect of a real conflict between United and Januzaj if he cannot be persuaded to go to the Stadium of Light.

Januzaj did in fact play his best football for United under Moyes, and he made 15 Premier League starts in the 2013-14 season. But he struggled to convince Louis van Gaal of his quality and he made only seven starts during 2014-15. Last season he joined Borussia Dortmund but made little impact then and was frozen out in the second half of the season, making just three brief substitute appearances after returning from the Westfalenstadion last December.

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