a revitalised marouane fellaini owes his eventful premier league career to a stand out performance at anfield – the ground he returns to on sunday carrying the champions league hopes of manchester united on his broad shoulders fellaini was a 20 year old with standard liege when his outstanding display against steven gerrard in a 2008 champions league qualifier persuaded everton to buy him 19 days later for a club record £15million he became a cult hero at goodison park for the next five years before signing for manchester united in 2013 now in his second season at old trafford and used mainly as a striker by louis van gaal, he is in the best form of his united career and scored and made an assist in last weekend's 3 0 victory against tottenham marouane fellaini fired manchester united into the lead against tottenham with a smart finish  the belgian trains ahead of united's crucial clash with liverpool on sunday, where he is sure to be involved  fellaini has grown from a bit part player last season to become a vital member of louis van gaal's squad  steve round, assistant manager to david moyes at everton and manchester united and who worked with fellaini at both clubs, recounts how it all began 'marouane had been on everton's radar for a while his ability to play in different positions was attractive because the club didn't have the money to pay big fees on several players,' explains round 'david asked me to go and watch him play liverpool at anfield and he was very impressive a lot of players would have been dominated in midfield by someone like steven gerrard in his own stadium but marouane competed and gave as good as he got he wasn't overawed and you could see he had ability 'when david asked my opinion, it was positive and the club signed him in what was a big deal for them given their finances at the time' former everton assistant steve round watched fellaini play against liverpool for former club standard liege  round gave the midfielder a glowing reference to david moyes who sanctioned a £15m deal to sign him  fellaini became one of the most instantly recognisable figures in the english game with his huge hair making him appear even bigger than his 6ft4ins frame he became a fearsome threat in the air though opponents often felt he was too aggressive with his elbows and it has to be pointed out the belgian has received 56 yellow cards and two reds since he moved to england having worked closely with fellaini, round says there is far more to his game than the 27 year old is given credit for 'he is technically very good, he may not have the same range of passing as gerrard but he rarely gives the ball away and his chest control is as good as anyone i've seen in the game he can play three positions well; holding midfield, number 10 or up top, where we used him with tim cahill in the season we reached the fa cup final i think he is best in a more advanced position where he has more freedom and not as much defensive responsibilities round (left) was assistant to moyes at everton and then manchester united  fellaini became a cult hero at goodison park, where he spent five seasons  'marouane can hold the ball up and bring others into play and i can see why wayne rooney enjoyed playing with him, in a similar way that michael owen benefitted from emile heskey's physical presence for england' a protracted transfer from everton to united was finally completed in the summer of 2013 for £27million after moyes and round had been appointed at old trafford to begin the post sir alex ferguson era 'i remember ryan giggs warning us that manchester united can take some getting used to for new signings he sited the example of patrice evra who turned out to be a great player for the club ryan said he was taken off after 45 minutes of his debut against manchester city because it was such a culture shock 'marouane is a humorous guy, always able to take fun out of himself i like him but i guess being the only signing of that transfer window brought its own pressure and looking back maybe he was a bit quieter at the beginning than he was at everton but that's also natural when you are joining a new club with players who have been successful' fellaini followed moyes to manchester united, but was considered a figure of fun after the disappointing season under the former everton boss  fellaini starred in the 3 0 win over liverpool at old trafford in december, and offers van gaal an alternative  after a nightmare first season in which united finisehd seventh, moyes was sacked and round left too fellaini stayed but was regarded at that time as a figure of fun round is not surprised he has been able to turn his fortunes around 'i always thought he would show people what he could do at united it's like ryan said, it can take a few months for a new signing to be comfortable he has always worked hard in training, he doesn't hide when things aren't going well that has helped him 'it's hard to say what will happen at united next the pressure is always on to win matches and you don't know what the manager will do in the summer but marouane has shown this season he is an asset to manchester united' and at lunchtime on sunday, he will hope to show that at anfield, the ground where it all started for him the only thing he'd like to change is the result – seven years ago, liverpool edged liege 1 0 with an injury time winner from dirk kuyt
marouane fellaini everton standard liege £15m steven gerrard david moyes manchester united belgian united
marouane fellaini joined everton from standard liege in 2008 for £15m . a performance against steven gerrard convinced the toffees to buy him . fellaini followed david moyes to manchester united in 2013 . the belgian has become a key player for united this season 