Adnan Januzaj is a name familiar to the Premier League fans, particularly, the Manchester United fans around the world. A youth product of Anderlecht, the Belgian starlet joined the Red Devils back in 2011 and had his breakthrough in the 2013-13 season where he accumulated 4 goals and 3 assists from 27 appearances in the Premier League.
Despite impressing in his debut season, he fell out of favour in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons and spent time on loan at Borussia Dortmund and Sunderland, neither of which proved to be particularly fruitful for the youngster. Having lost his place in the Manchester United first-team, Januzaj shifted bases to the La Liga and joined Real Sociedad in the summer of 2017.
Januzaj had an impressive debut season in the La Liga, accumulating 3 goals and 5 assists and his performances were enough to earn him a call-up to Belgium’s 2018 World Cup squad. The 23-year-old has hit the ground running this term as well, registering a couple of assists from 7 appearances.
A technically-gifted and tactically versatile attacking midfielder, Januzaj is a left-footed player who can play in multiple positions in the final third. While he can operate as an inverted winger down the right and as a conventional winger down the left, the Belgian is also capable of playing in a No.10 role as the playmaker behind the striker.
Known for his sharpness, agility and acceleration, Januzaj is a player with an incredible vision who can spark that creativity in the final third and play the centre-forward in behind the backline with defence-splitting through balls. An intelligent footballer and a flawless passer, he knows how to pick the right pass and at the right time.
Januzaj combines his excellent close control with his sharpness, agility and instant acceleration to create space for himself. In other words, he is an all-around exponent of a creative midfielder who can turn the game on its head with moments of sheer brilliance. Furthermore, he is capable of producing spectacular goals with the outside of his magical left foot. Januzaj has averaged 3.4 dribbles, 1.3 key passes and 1.7 shots per game this term in the La Liga.
To put things into perspective, he would be an ideal buy for Fulham in January. Despite spending a fortune in the summer to bolster their attack, the Cottagers haven’t hit the ground running and have managed to score only 16 goals so far.
While they have conceded goals at an alarming rate this season, Fulham’s attacking play has been rather one-dimensional. In fact, they have paid the price for their overreliance on Aleksandr Mitrovic. The Serb has scored a brace in each of Fulham’s two victories in the Premier League but they need to find an alternative when he doesn’t fire. Andre Schurrle has chipped in with a few goals but his overall contribution to the build-up play has been less than impressive.
In other words, they need a playmaker to spark the creativity and work the spaces in the final third along with Tom Cairney. And a player like Adnan Januzaj certainly ticks all the boxes to add spark to Fulham’s rather dull and boring attack.
That said, they should break the bank to sign the Belgian in January as a desperate measure to avoid the drop this season.