Adnan Januzaj

Manchester United

Januzaj began his football career with FC Brussels but joined Anderlecht as a ten-year-old in 2005. He left Anderlecht for Manchester United at the age of 16 in March 2011, after impressing in a skills session in Brussels. Towards the end of the 2012–13 season, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson promoted Januzaj to the first-team and he was registered with the number 44 jersey; he did not feature in the remainder of the season, but he was an unused substitute in the final game of the season away to West Bromwich Albion. For his performances during the season, Januzaj won the 2013 Denzil Haroun Reserve Team Player of the Year award. He was included in the first-team squad for the 2013–14 pre-season tour of Asia and scored in the final game of the tour against Hong Kong side Kitchee five minutes after being substituted on. He also started in Rio Ferdinand's testimonial; United lost 3–1 to Sevilla, but Januzaj provided the assist for United's only goal.

2013–14 season

Januzaj made his competitive debut for Manchester United against Wigan Athletic on 11 August 2013 in the Community Shield, coming on for Robin van Persie with six minutes left to play. 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…

Due to his Kosovan-Albanian parents, in 2013, media reported that Januzaj was eligible to represent several national teams - Belgium (through being born there and having a Belgian passport), Albania (through his Albanian descent) and Kosovo (which was not a FIFA member at that time), as well as Serbia, Turkey and Croatia. About this case, Abedin Januzaj (Adnan's father) stated "I am not closing the doors to Albania, because we are Albanian. However, they are closing the doors to themselves. I only deal with professionals on the issue," and said that Adnan would not represent Serbia, Turkey or Croatia because "we have no connections with these countries". In October 2013, England manager Roy Hodgson stated that The Football Association was monitoring the player with a view to calling him up if Januzaj was naturalised as a British citizen (and passed the residency requirement of FIFA, according to David Moyes). However, despite widespread press coverage, Januzaj did not meet the requirements to play for England under the rules set out in the Home Nations agreement, which requires that players engage in a minimum of five years of education before the age of 18 within the territory of the relevant association and national team eligibility through residency as an adult is not applicable. Despite having played competitively for Belgium at senior level, Januzaj remained eligible to represent Kosovo, as it was not a UEFA or FIFA member when he made his Belgian debut. However, once…

During his time at Manchester United, Januzaj was regarded as a potential generational talent. A skillful and technically gifted player, Januzaj predominantly plays as a left-footed winger capable of playing on either side but performed well as a number ten behind striker Wayne Rooney during the early stages of the 2015–16 Manchester United F.C. season. During his time at Real Sociedad, he matured into a versatile attacker excelling in dribbling and link-up play Additionally, he is considered a dead-ball specialist, and was on free kick duty for United's youth sides as well as Sociedad and Las Palmas.

Club

As of match played 1 March 2026

International

As of match played 29 March 2022