Most Manchester United fans didn't know what to make of the news that Adnan Januzaj was being allowed to leave the club on loan, and when it emerged that he would be joining Borussia Dortmund, the situation became even more puzzling for fans of the Old Trafford club.
United have a very poor history with loans. The only players that come to mind when one tries to think of successful loan spells, are David Beckham to Preston North End in 94/95, and then Tom Cleverley to Wigan, and both Danny Welbeck and Jonny Evans' loans to Sunderland, but those last three players are no longer at the club, so it is difficult to truly count them as a success.
The likes of Giuseppe Rossi, Kiko Macheda, and Fabio Da Silva stick out as memories of players who had high expectations among the fans of the club, only to see their future at United fizzle away into nothing following disastrous loan spells, so you would think that caution would have been taken when allowing one of the brightest talents in Europe leave the club to gain experience.
While Louis Van Gaal and Ed Woodward must take cristicism for allowing the move to happen, Adnan Januzaj must also come under scrutiny for picking Dortmund out of the list of teams interested in taking him. Presumably he felt that he could force his way into the first team, but it seems as though he opted for the more "glamorous" team rather than finding somewhere that he could play every week.
We are now around half-way through the loan deal, and it looks like it has been an absolute disaster for the following reasons.
He was never going to play regularly.
Borussia Dortmund are a team that boast Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (currently top scorer in Germany with 17 league goals in December), Marco Reus, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Shinji Kagawa, Gonzalo Castro, and young talent Julian Weigl as the talent that Januzaj has to compete with for places.
He was never going to waltz in and push any of those players out of the team, so the only way that he could have thought he would play would be in an injury crisis (which ironically Manchester United are now suffering), or if Dortmund fell apart like they did at the start of last season.
Neither of those situations have occurred, and regarding the latter the opposite has happened, as Dormund are flying, and banging in goals all over the place, meaning Adnan only rarely gets a look in for the Europa League.
His confidence has taken a serious knock.
A few weeks ago we showed you a clip in a post called 'Adnan Januzaj, The Loneliest Loanee That Was Ever Loaned' that showed the Belgian opting to kick a ball about with a Russian ball-boy rather than with his teammates, who were joking and laughing during the half-time warm up.
It was sad to watch, but while you can't truly gauge the lad's confidence from a clip, those who watched Januzaj's difficult second season at Old Trafford will have known that the last thing he needs to waste time warming the bench.
Under David Moyes, Januzaj played with freedom and without fear. He took players on, slid cheeky passes through tiny gaps, and delivered balls into the box. Under Louis Van Gaal, when he got chances to play he looked timid, nervous, and like someone who was doubting their ability.
His confidence was low, now it appears to be lower.
When he does play, it hasn't been going well.
Januzaj dropped from the squad after his shocking performance on Thursday. #BVB
— Sandra Goldschmidt (@SanBorussia) December 13, 2015
@Dey_Femi Yes, he got rated 5.5 by everyone with 6 being the worst.
— Sandra Goldschmidt (@SanBorussia) December 13, 2015
Perhaps the most worrying thing for Manchester United fans will be how underwhelmed the Dortmund fans have been with Januzaj.
After an encouraging start with a few promising cameos from the bench, Januzaj is now being criticised when given rare opportunities.
Manchester United fans, and most fans who witness his breakout season to be fair, would have told you that Adnan was one of the rising stars in European football following his breakthrough from the youth team. That opinion is not shared by the match-going fans of Borussia Dortmund, and appears to be losing validity week by week.
He has not done his Euro 2016 squad chances any good.
He was taken by Marc Wilmots to the 2014 World Cup thanks to a stellar season under David Moyes, and was called up for the majority of Belgium's qualifiers, but while Adnan Januzaj sits on a bench in Germany, other Belgian stars are taking their chances to shine elsewhere.
Januzaj would be classified as an attacker in Belgium's squad, which means he will be competing with the wingers and strikers that Belgium have for a place. That is not good news.
With each week that passes as he looks on from the sidelines, Januzaj is slipping further down the pecking order.
Manchester United could really do with him.
The most infuriating aspect of this deal for Manchester United fans, is that he would actually have a fairly significant part to play were he still available for selection in Louis Van Gaal's side.
Januzaj scored the winning goal for United away to Aston Villa right before he left the club on loan, which made the decision even more baffling, but the young Belgian's versatility in terms of attacking options would surely be welcome as the manager has called on Nick Powell from the bench twice in the last week.
He doesn't even know if he's coming back to the club.
After being slated by German papers for his performance in the Europa League last week, Januzaj was asked if he was going to return to Manchester United when the loan ended:
I don’t know.
I wanted to join somewhere I could play and there were a few things behind that were a problem but I’m happy here. I just need more games to play and then I’ll be fine.
He says he's happy. He probably shouldn't be.
via manchestereveningnews.co.uk
It was a mistake by Manchester United to allow him to leave, it was a mistake by Adnan Januzaj to choose such a difficult club to secure game-time, and it may well go down as one of the worst loan deals ever seen.
UPDATE:
Wednesday, January 6th, 2016 has brought about the news that Manchester United have asked for the loan deal to be cancelled, allowing the Belgian to return to Old Trafford:
#MUFC have asked Borussia Dortmund to cancel Januzaj's loan owing to lack of playing time. Will return this week. Story via @TimesSport now
— James Ducker (@DuckerTheTimes) January 6, 2016
Januzaj will now return to play for a manager who had no intentions of playing him at the start of the season, having played six times for Dortmund.
Now we will see Adnan Januzaj's mental toughness tested, as if he can brush this disastrous deal aside and return to some sort of form, then that would be an impressive feat.
