Manchester United are keen to wrap up a new long-term contract for Adnan Januzaj and keep him away from the host of European clubs who are monitoring his situation at Old Trafford.
The 18-year-old, who scored both goals in United’s 2-1 victory at Sunderland on Saturday in his first Premier League start, has a deal that expires next year and the club are keen to avoid a similar situation to that of Paul Pogba, who moved to Juventus in the summer of 2012.
United had wanted Pogba, who was then 19, to agree terms on an extended deal but discussions became protracted and finally broke down because of the financial demands made by the French midfielder’s advisers. He eventually left for the Italian club on a four-year contract that draws a reported salary of £20,000 a week, with his agent, Mino Raiolo, also earning a six-figure fee from the move.
Discussions with Januzaj began last spring with the manager’s predecessor, Sir Alex Ferguson, but have dragged because of what David Moyes recently described as “some influences around him”.
Januzaj, whose father takes overall responsibility for his career and who is represented by the agent Dirk De Vriese, is interesting Juventus, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
Last week De Vriese claimed that Januzaj has many potential suitors. “I’m not going to say which teams are interested in him, but I can tell you that there is interest from several European clubs,” he told Voetbal Nieuws. “The departure of Sir Alex Ferguson meant that there was a break in the negotiations. We are back working on the calls and will see how it goes. Adnan’s family have given me the permission to communicate. As it is only me involved, there can be no misunderstandings in the media.”
Januzaj was arguably United’s best player during the club’s three-week pre-season tour of Asia and Australia. And with Moyes now fast-tracking him into the first-team squad there is hope that it will help convince Januzaj that he should remain at United beyond next summer.
Moyes said: “I would have probably put him in the team three or four weeks ago. There were a couple of games when I was going to start him. I just felt that until we got a bit of momentum into our play, I thought we had to wait.”
His international future is also in the balance as Januzaj could play for Belgium, as he was born there, Albania or Kosovo through his parents, as well as Turkey and Serbia through his grandparents. Playing for England is also an option under the residency rule, though this would not be possible until 2018.
© Guardian News & Media Limited 2014
