English Biograpy Adnan Januzaj (pronounced [adˈnan januˈzaj]; born 5 February 1995) is a footballer who plays as a midfielder for Manchester United. Born in Brussels, he began his career with Belgian club Anderlecht, but joined Manchester United in 2011 at the age of 16. Club career Januzaj was born in Brussels to Kosovar-Albanian parents. He started at FC Brussels and joined as a 10-year-old boy Anderlecht in 2005. He left Anderlecht for Manchester United in March 2011 as a 16-year-old after impressing in a skills session in Brussels. Towards the end of the 2012–13 season, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson gave him a first team squad number of 44, however he did not feature in the remainder of the season although he was an unused substitute in Fergusons last game before retirement; away to West Bromwich Albion. Januzaj has won the 2013 Denzil Haroun Reserve Team Player of the Year award, at only 18 years of age.[5] He joined the first team squad for the 2013–14 pre-season games and was one of Uniteds best performers including scoring a goal. Januzaj also started Rio Ferdinands testimonial in a match which saw United lose 3–1 to Sevilla. However he provided an assist for Uniteds only goal. On 11 August 2013, Januzaj made his competitive debut for Manchester United against Wigan Athletic in the 2013 FA Community Shield after coming on for Robin van Persie. He made his Premier League debut a month later, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute for Ashley Young in a 2–0 home win over Crystal Palace on 14 September. On 5 October 2013, in what was his first start for the club, Januzaj scored twice as United came from behind to claim a 2–1 victory away to Sunderland. International career Januzaj is eligible to represent Belgium through birth and passport, Albania through his ethnic Albanian parents and Serbia due to the disputed status of his parents homeland of Kosovo. He is also eligible to represent Kosovo at international football although they do not have a FIFA-affiliated team but do have a FIFA-sanctioned youth team which plays in non-FIFA and non-confederation tournaments and exhibition games against full FIFA members. In June 2013, Marc Van Geersom, former coach of the Belgium U-18 and U-19, has declared that Januzaj has refused a call-up to the Belgian team a number of times, since he would prefer to play for Albania. Albanias coach, Gianni De Biasi declared on 12 August 2013 that Januzaj is a great talent, and that he and the Albanian federation are waiting for the right moment to talk to him and to call him up for the Albanian national side. The Football Federation of Kosovo have said that they respect Januzaj’s right to decide his international future and that it is not fair to expect a player to represent a nation that cannot play competitive football. Belgian coach Marc Wilmots has plans to speak to Januzaj about his international future. I will soon do it and it is up to him to decide. Januzaj has never played for the Rode Duivels. Not even for the youth teams. He has always refused. He also insisted that he will not ask new teammate Marouane Fellaini to persuade him. I do not ask Marouane to influence him, he added. That is absolutely not his job.[ In October 2013 England manager Roy Hodgson stated that The Football Association were monitoring the player with a view to calling him up in the future.[ However, despite widespread press coverage, the player would not meet the requirements to play for England under the unique rules set out in the Home nations agreement. The Home nations agreement requires that players engage in a minimum of five years education under the age of 18 within the territory of the relevant association and do not offer national team eligibility through residency.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 17:10:36 +0000
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