Real Sociedad attacker to dedicate first goal to Louis van Gaal

Belgium international Adnan Januzaj has spoken on his shrewd relationship with former Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal and plans to dedicate his first goal for Real Sociedad to the Dutchman.

The 22-year-old made his move to La Liga from the Red Devils last month after he fell out of favour under Jose Mourinho.

Januzaj made his breakthrough at Old Trafford under David Moyes back in the 2013/14 season where he managed 38 appearances across all competitions. However, upon Moyes' sacking, Januzaj could not establish himself as a regular with Van Gaal restricting him to just seven Premier League games in his first season in-charge.

The 2015/16 season saw him loaned out to German giants Borussia Dortmund where he could not get much of a run. As a result, he returned to United in the second half of the campaign, only to make three more appearances as a substitute under the Dutchman.

Januzaj signed a five-year deal with Real Sociedad earlier last month, and he is now hoping to prove his critics, including Van Gaal, wrong during his time in La Liga, he told AS: "If I score a goal I will dedicate it to Van Gaal. I don't want to talk about him but everyone knows how many problems I had with him. We didn't have the best of rapports. It wasn't easy, it's very frustrating and difficult when you are in a situation like that. I didn't have many possibilities to play. I spent a long time on the bench and that makes you lose confidence and minor injuries emerge. I hope that one day, I can shut up all those people that criticised me."

The former United graduate spent the previous campaign on loan at Sunderland where he was rather disappointing, but he is said to have no grudges with Mourinho, who understood his desire to pursue a fresh challenge.