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Marouane Fellaini played an integral part in the club’s revival in fortunes

Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini played an integral part in the club’s revival in fortunes towards the end of the season.

The Belgian seemingly was heading towards an exit when Louis Van Gaal took over. After all, he had just completed a very poor first season at Old Trafford and he was widely rated as not being a ‘United type of player’. Amidst all such opinions,Fellaini managed to play a vital role in Unitedreturning to the Champions League. Some of his key goals came in key matches – like against West Brom – when United were struggling to make any impact.

The 27-year-old is at the peak of his career and United are set to take advantage of this physical presence in a big way going forward. The former Everton man finished last season with seven goals from 27 matches. More importantly, he has helped retain the ball in the attacking third of the pitch due to his physical presence.Fellaini, though, sees his future at United transforming into a defensive midfielder going forward. Often players resorted to playing in this position towards the end of their career, but Fellaini started out here and sees himself ending his career in this position as well.

Having achieved top four qualification, United will now look to retain this position.”Yes I see myself as a defensive midfielder, I feel comfortable playing there and if the manager decides he wants to play me there, I will.At the moment I play more up front, so it’s good for me.I score goals so in football it’s important. I’m happy to play there and win some important games. Now we know how we work, his philosophy, how we have to play, how we have to think. So that’s why we won a lot of games in the last few months,” said Fellaini.