Manchester United's Adnan Januzaj is set to leave the club permanently after the Reds agreed an €11m transfer fee (£9.7m) with La Liga side Real Sociedad, according to a report from France Football on Wednesday.
Januzaj has had two consecutive seasons of unsuccessful loan moves, first at Borussia Dortmund and then in England, with David Moyes' Sunderland. Despite playing under the manager who gave him his debut at United again in Moyes, Januzaj couldn't recapture that early form he found as a teenager.
Man Utd agree €11m for Januzaj
His work rate has been questioned on multiple occasions and José Mourinho said at the back end of last season that a decision had been taken on his future. It appears that decision was to sell the player, who has one year remaining on his contract.
Januzaj's representatives are also believed to want a breakaway from United after difficulties since his amazing breakthrough. France Football suggest a fee has been sorted between the clubs and personal terms are yet to be agreed upon.
Reds will have priority clause included
However, Januzaj and his team have previously been said to have been against the inclusion of a buy-back clause in any potential transfer, as per Sport Witness. This is something which United included when selling Memphis Depay to Olympique Lyonnais last January.
Despite this, France Football report that while Januzaj will join Real Sociedad for €11m, a priority clause has been included for the first three years of the Belgian's time at the Spanish side. This means United and Mourinho will be notified of any bids that come in for Januzaj and thus have the chance to match or trump them.
Januzaj's development has faltered significantly. With Sociedad, he'll be given a chance to play and, hopefully, flourish. United, meanwhile, still have a link to a player they moulded from the age of 16 for the first three years of a contract in Spain.
The forward has been linked to other clubs, but it now appears likely that he'll join Sociedad. The club confirmed interest in the player earlier this month. A step down, for sure, but a chance to shine and earn himself a move back up the footballing ladder later on. He is, after all, still only 22.