By Dean White

7th Jun, 2022 | 4:40pm

West Ham United swoop to sign Adnan Januzaj on the cards as contract expires

Adnan Januzaj’s next club could be West Ham United with his contract at Real Sociedad set to expire at the end of June, according to El Desmarque.

The Spanish news outlet reported via their website on 6 June that the 27-year-old ex-Manchester United attacker is yet to find a new club even though his deal expires in just over three weeks’ time.

It is understood that he’s been surprisingly liked with Barcelona and Roma but a move to West Ham is also on the cards for Januzaj, who’s played for David Moyes at both Manchester United and Sunderland.

No, thanks

Januzaj dropped out of favour at Real Sociedad in the 2021/22 season so it’s no surprise to see the 15-time Belgium international being released by the La Liga club.

The 27-year-old, who broke through at Old Trafford when Moyes was in charge there, played 168 times in total for Sociedad, scoring 23 goals and supplying 21 assists in the process.

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His numbers aren’t impressive and if the Irons were to sign Januzaj, we’d only expect him to be someone who’ll join as a back-up option rather than a starter.

But we don’t want time and money to be wasted on back-ups – we want to see Moyes strengthening the starting line-up.

Januzaj can play on both sides of the attack while he’s also capable in the middle or up front as a striker.

But his lack of goals and assists in Spain are worrying and we doubt he’d copy any better in the Premier League with the Hammers.

Nikola Vlasic has been a bit of a flop so far but we’d rather see Moyes show more patience towards him than bringing in a new signing that is completely underwhelming.

Moyes, however, does rate Januzaj.

Speaking after his debut in 2013, as quoted by the Daily Star, Moyes compared the Belgian to Wayne Rooney and Ross Barkley.

He said: “I gave Wayne Rooney his Premier League debut, and Ross Barkley, and Adnan is certainly up there with those players in terms of quality,” the Scot said.

“As far as debuts go, I would be surprised if even the great players in United’s past have shown such promise on day one.

“It wasn’t just the two goals, his whole game was outstanding. We know we’ve got a really special talent, but we’ll keep his feet on the ground.”

In other West Ham news, an offer has been made to make a behind-the-scenes appointment at the club.

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