Japanese star joined the club last June from Dortmund.
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There are now serious question marks over the future of Manchester United midfield player Shinji Kagawa at Old Trafford going forward after the Japanese international was substituted by Red Devils head coach David Moyes at half-time during Saturday’s surprise 2-1 home loss to West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League, according to reports in the Mail on Sunday.
The highly rated playmaker has only been with the top-flight champions now for just over a year, with Kagawa originally arriving in the north west from Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund last June on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
However, it is fair to say that the Japanese has found it hard to settle in the brief time that he has been at the club, despite some at times encouraging displays in midfield for United last time out under previous manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
In fact, Kagawa did manage to find the back of the net on six occasions in total in his 26 appearances in all competitions last season, all of which came in the Premier League, however, those strikes came mainly from the player’s more favoured position of in the ‘hole’ as a No 10 just behind a central striker.
Whereas against the Baggies, the 24-year-old was utilised in a less familiar left-wing role, with Moyes saying after the full-time whistle of his decision to give Kagawa the hook at the break: “I just decided I wanted to make a change.
“We want Shinji to feel he has an opportunity to show what he can do. His best position is arguably at No 10 playing behind a main striker, but he’s used to playing on the left-hand side with Japan There is a lot of competition here and we want to push each other to improve performances.”