How Marouane Fellaini has become a Manchester United lynchpin

Sport360 staff 21:02 05/10/2017
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  • It’s been a long, hard, and sometimes discouraging road for Marouane Fellaini, but there’s no doubting where he is now: a crucial player for one of the world’s biggest club’s challenging for the Premier League title.

    When he was first signed by Manchester United in 2013, he soon came to be viewed as the symbol of the David Moyes’ era; just not good enough. Even after Moyes was sacked, that impression stuck with Fellaini.

    He became the ill-fitting Plan B under Louis van Gaal, thrown on late in games so that United could lump the ball forward to him while chasing a goal, and was largely regarded as a liability by most fans.

    His nadir in a United shirt came last December, when Jose Mourinho brought him on as a substitute to help protect a 1-0 lead. Within minutes, he gave away a penalty that cost his side the win.

    The United faithful, who had never warmed to him in the first place, instantly made him a pantomime villain after that. He was booed on his next Old Trafford appearance and got only lukewarm cheers when his name was announced in subsequent games.

    Since then, however, he’s effected a remarkable turnaround. He’s one of Mourinho’s trusted lieutenants, so much so that he’s been the manager’s go-to midfielder in the absence of the injured Paul Pogba – keeping the club’s reigning Player of the Year, Ander Herrera, out of the starting XI.

    He’s got four goals already this season, passes the ball with much more authority and assuredness than he’s previously displayed in a United shirt, and, to sum it up, has become one of the team’s key players.

    Here’s a look at how he’s become so important to Jose Mourinho and Manchester United.

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