Manchester United are set to offer Adnan Januzaj a new contract, thus preventing the Belgian from walking away from the club for free in the same way Paul Pogba did two seasons ago.
Januzaj scored twice in his first start for the club as United came back from behind to win 2-1 at Sunderland and his performance turned many heads not just in the Premier League, but among European clubs as well.
The 18-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and is yet to sign a new deal, while Manchester City, Juventus and even Barcelona are rumoured to be sniffing around the youngster, who could qualify to play international football for six different countries.
The stumbling block between Januzaj signing a new contract and him leaving the club is thought to be not of financial nature, as the Belgian and his agent are happy with the terms they’ve been offered, although the 18-year-old is thought to be seeking guarantees about his involvement in the first team – pretty much along the lines of what Thiago Alcantara did when at Barcelona.
United lost Paul Pogba as the Frenchman had grown disillusioned with the lack of first team football and it’s a decision that they will probably live to regret, considering Pogba has since taken Serie A by storm, becoming an integral figure in the Juventus side that has won back-to-back Serie A titles.
Moyes, however, is keen to avoid the same mistake and has so far handled Januzaj extremely well, Saturday’s start coming after a couple of substitute appearances and is likely to table a new offer, worth £50,000-a-week over four years in the hope to tie Januzaj to a new contract, reports the Mirror.
Meanwhile, another Belgian, Marouane Fellaini, could be ruled out of action even beyond the international break, as the £27m signing from Everton suffered a wrist injury which might have damaged his ligaments and will see a hand specialist in Manchester today.
The Belgian will join his national team regardless of the entity of his injury, but he will probably require surgery, meaning he could be force to play with a brace when he returns to action for United
