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Three years after Adnan Januzaj announced his arrival in the Premier League with a one-man demolition job against Sunderland, David Moyes’ eyes still light up at the memory.

Moyes was still settling into the Old Trafford hotseat, and Januzaj was making his first Premier League start when he scored both goals in a 2-1 win over the Black Cats at the Stadium of Light in October 2013.

Januzaj was the man of the moment, and already international managers were queuing up to stake a claim - eventually the youngster chose the country of his birth Belgium over England.

But Moyes’ brief spell in charge at Man U came to an end in April 2014, and the following season saw Januzaj’s career hit the skids as it became clear that he was not part of new manager Louis van Gaal’s plans.

Van Gaal has now departed and it seems his successor Jose Mourinho does not rate Januzaj either, allowing the 21-year-old to link up with Moyes once more on loan at Sunderland.

And now Wearside must keep its fingers crossed that Januzaj can recapture the form he showed under Moyes in those early days at United.

“The big thing on the night was that Adnan scored two great goals and it was a wee bit about the emergence of this boy,” said Moyes, who takes charge of his first home game as Sunderland boss this lunchtime when Middlesbrough visit the Stadium of Light.

“We had seen him and Jesse Lingard in pre-season, they were the two boys who had featured and we really liked them.

“We gave Adnan the chance and he scored and he was playing so well, the supporters were seeing him and he was making goals scoring goals and he was the one we picked up.

“I hope he is still going to do it and I have said Adnan needs to show what he can do.

“He wants to. He is determined to show he is a good player and he feels he has not had enough game time.”

Januzaj will arrive at Sunderland not only to repay Moyes’ faith in him, but also to prove van Gaal and Mourinho wrong.

But Moyes has also told him that he must accept a share of the responsibility for failing to establish himself in the Man United side,adding: “I have said to him not all managers are wrong so he has to prove they were not right in their choices and that he is ready.”

More importantly as far as Sunderland are concerned, Moyes wants to see Januzaj demonstrate that he has matured into an all-round player.

He made an impact as a substitute in Sunderland’s season-opener at Manchester City last weekend, and he could play a bigger role against newly-promoted Boro this afternoon.

Moyes said: “He has to be a team player as well as an individual player and I hope he does that.

“He has the ability to put people on the back foot and make things happen and score goals and we need him to do that.

“I hope he is not just the same player [as Moyes saw at Man U] and he has seen more, there is a bit of what I see in his face.

“I need to see a bit of pain from him and that he feels this is him wanting to perform and when I see in his eyes I will know.

“He is not a one-man show but he has to play for the team but he has the ability to score goals.”