Manchester United's Adnan Januzaj: 'Wearing Ryan Giggs' Number 11 Shirt is a Big Deal'

Manchester United prodigy Adnan Januzaj has revealed the club asked him in the summer if he was ready to inherit the iconic number 11 shirt once Ryan Giggs decided to hang up his boots to become Louis van Gaal's assistant.

Despite many supporters urging the club to retire the shirt following Giggs' retirement, United decided to hand the honour of wearing the number 11 to Januzaj as a reward for his impressive breakthrough into the first team last season.

"I was really happy to get the number of such a legend and it was a really big deal for me," the United teenager said to Manchester United's official website.

"I went to the office and they asked me if I wanted the shirt. I wasn't going to say no! Straight away I said 'of course' and I didn't have to think about it. It was a 'yes' straight away."

The 19-year-old was one of the few bright spots in United's disappointing campaign under David Moyes, scoring four goals in 27 Premier League appearances to earn a place in the World Cup with the Belgium squad.

Even though he had a slow start to life under Van Gaal, Januazj is earning the confidence of the new manager, having started the last two Premier League games against West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea.

The United midfielder wants to respond to the manager's trust and to the "big responsibility" of wearing Giggs' number.

He said: "It feels different. Things have changed because it is a big responsibility to wear the number 11 shirt and having the number of a legend is really big. Ryan has helped me a lot and is like a godfather. He has told me to work hard on the training pitch and the rest is more personal. We talk about football a lot."

Januzaj also revealed Giggs is his favourite player of all time and is looking forward to emulate the ex-Wales international's career at Old Trafford.

"I learned a lot from him and the experience was great. He was such a good player to watch and is my favourite player of all time at United," he said.

"Could I imagine playing at 40? Of course, if I am still fit. You never lose your quality, that's something I learned from him."