On Tuesday night, Marouane Fellaini’s goal in the last 10 minutes of a cup tie when Manchester United were 1-0 up finally answered the question of when is the best time to actually play Marouane Fellaini.
The Belgian midfielder has found his starting role severely downgraded since Jose Mourinho decided to give that Michael Carrick lad a whirl and United went on a nine-game winning streak.
The 29-year-old has made 21 appearances [12 starts] for United this season but, up until Tuesday, his stand-out moment of the season was coming on late against Everton in the league and conceding a penalty that saw the game end 1-1.
Fellaini made an appearance off the bench for the final 20 minutes of a Europa League game against Zorya, four days later, and was booed by some sections of the home crowd at Old Trafford.
At times, it has seemed as if footballing life was passing Fellaini by while he tried his best to keep up.
Kasper Schmeichel is a more creative footballer than Marouane Fellaini #LeiWhu
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) April 17, 2016
That headed goal against Hull had him cheered by United supporters and lauded by Mourinho, who told reporters:
“Marouane has a very strong mentality and has coped well. He knows he is a very important player for me.”
So important, in fact, that United have offered Fellaini a year-long contract extension that would keep him at the club until June 2018. Fellaini is on a reported £4.2m a year [£80,000 a week] and has been ever since his £27.5m move from Everton in 2013.
A cynic might say that by triggering the extension, it simply means they would receive a transfer fee were Fellaini to leave before the summer of 2018 but Mourinho may be keen to have him around a while longer.
