Former Manchester United attacker Adnan Januzaj has blamed the lack of opportunities for his failure to cement a place in the starting XI at Old Trafford.
The Belgian signed for £300k when he was 16, getting enrolled in the youth academy at the club. He made a strong competitive debut for United under David Moyes in 2013, scoring a brace.
However, things took a turn for the worse after Moyes’ sacking. The managers started looking over him as he endured a dip in form.
Now plying his trade for Real Sociedad, Januzaj has claimed that his story would have been different if he was a blockbuster signing at Old Trafford, which would have guaranteed him more chances.
“Imagine, for example, if I had started here at Real Sociedad and I could have been bought for, I don’t know, a lot of money [by United]. It would have been different.”
“There, I was an academy player, came through the youth and it felt different. Now, if you pay £60-70m for a player he has more chance to play than you. That’s how football is….”
“I started in the first team and it’s even harder to take criticism when you are such a young player, but, obviously, people were expecting a lot from me. I wanted to show those people but I didn’t have that small chance to do it.”
“I grew up there [United], I was really happy until one year I had a bit of a struggle with the manager and that slowed me down.”
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