The career of Adnan Januzaj has been an odd one ever since he burst onto the scene as a raw teenager under David Moyes at Manchester United.

The Kosovan-born Belgian international actually scored twice in a 2-1 victory over Sunderland on his Red Devils debut and was instantly hailed as the next big thing to emerge from the Premier League's most successful club.

He did continue his fine form for the rest of the 2013/14 season and will always be the finest thing Moyes did during his disastrous spell at the club.

However, since his departure, Januzaj's career at United has gone from bad to worse and this summer, he was finally offloaded on a permanent basis to La Liga side Real Sociedad.

Dreadful loan spells at Borussia Dortmund and Sunderland certainly didn't help, while constant questions over his attitude has not exactly helped stop his regression.

Louis van Gaal had no faith in him, neither did Jose Mourinho really, but in Januzaj's exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, it seems one managerial great did.

That man was none other than Sir Alex Ferguson, who prior to his exit in 2013 had the young winger training with the first-team.

"Obviously that day was a dream," Januzaj said. "To score two goals as a kid for the biggest club in England. As a 17-year-old, I trained a lot with the first team in Ferguson's final season. Amazing - Scholesy, Giggsy, Evra, Ferdinand... I remember Giggsy was always tackling me hard a lot.

"He wanted me to become a man on the pitch. He helped a lot during the difficult years I had with Louis van Gaal."

Ferguson clearly had faith in him and there is one moment in Januzaj's career that he will remember for the rest of his life.

During his tough spell with Dortmund in 2015/16, the legendary Scotsman sent him a hugely motivational text message.

When asked about Thomas Tuchel's accusations of poor attitude, he said: "If I only played for a contract, I would have stopped football right away. Since I was a little boy, I have loved this game. I started from age four and it's all I wanted.

"Those suggestions are stupid. I had very good stats when I came on. Sir Alex texted me and called during that spell. He told me, "Keep working hard, never give up, life goes on, you have quality and never stop working". I needed that."

Classic Fergie.

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