Derby test as loan stars look to prove their worth

THEY were headline acts in Manchester three years ago.

Alvaro Negredo was scoring for fun at City while Adnan Januzaj was winning comparisons with George Best at United.

Now they have swapped the North West for the North East in a bid to rebuild their careers and face each other today at the Stadium of Light.

Negredo was sold to Valencia and then joined Middlesbrough on loan while Januzaj fell out of form after David Moyes left United and has now rejoined his old boss. He too is on loan. ‘Adnan needs to show he’s a good team player, not just an individual,’ said Moyes who admitted he also tried to sign Negredo when he was manager at Everton.

The latter has already scored for Boro and manager Aitor Karanka said: ‘I hope Alvaro can do what Jermain Defoe did for Sunderland last year.’