Adnan Januzaj

Adnan Januzaj (born 5 February 1995) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger for La Liga club Las Palmas, on loan from Sevilla.

Januzaj made his full international debut in 2014 and later that year played for Belgium at the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018, reaching the semi-finals of the latter tournament.

This season has been great for me – going on the pre-season tour, making my debut in the Community Shield win at Wembley and then breaking into the team at Sunderland – it's like a dream.

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.

[10] 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.

[14] Januzaj was left out of Manchester United's initial squad for the UEFA Champions League when it was registered in September 2013,[15] which came as a surprise to some members of the media after his impressive start to the season.

[16] By waiting until 7 October 2013 to register Januzaj, he became eligible as a List B player, but this meant that he could not be selected for the club's first two matches in the competition, at home to Bayer Leverkusen and away to Shakhtar Donetsk.

[18] His third yellow card – which made him the joint second-most-booked player in the Premier League since sanctions for diving were introduced in 2008 – came against Tottenham Hotspur on 1 January 2014 and was the most contentious of the three; although Januzaj went to ground "easily" under a challenge from Tottenham defender Danny Rose,[18] others were of the opinion that Rose made no attempt to win the ball, and that Januzaj should not have been booked.

[20] David Moyes admitted speaking to Januzaj about simulation, but repeatedly requested that match officials protect the winger from overzealous tackling by opposition defenders.

[27] His first start of the season came in a 2–2 draw with West Bromwich Albion on 20 October 2014, in which he struggled against physical defenders Sébastien Pocognoli and Joleon Lescott.

[33] Januzaj made his debut the following day, coming off the bench against Manchester City in a 2–1 defeat on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.

[38] Having failed to hold onto his place in the Manchester United squad, Januzaj signed a five-year contract with Spanish club Real Sociedad in July 2017.

[45] Due to his Kosovan-Albanian parents,[46][47][48] 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 and only a partially recognized independent state), as well as Serbia, Turkey and Croatia.

[49] 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 naturalized as a British citizen (and passed the residency requirement of FIFA, according to David Moyes).

[51][52] 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.

[57] The following day, Januzaj's father told Kosovar TV station KTV that he did not like the Belgian federation's approach: "I am not blackmailing them as I'm not asking for any national team to get my son.

Januzaj playing for Manchester United in 2013
Januzaj playing for Manchester United in 2015
Januzaj training with Real Sociedad in 2018
Januzaj and Thorgan Hazard at the 2018 World Cup
Januzaj after scoring Belgium's winning goal against England at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia