5 hours Ago By The Guardian
Most of the noise around those in red at the Etihad Stadium last Sunday related to the dropping of two wingers until Amad Diallo intercepted Matheus Nunes’s woeful back-pass and won a penalty before scoring a last-minute winner. The Ivorian was Manchester United’s main threat in a as his flourishing under Ruben Amorim continued, while others drifted into the shadows. As Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho endured a watching brief after being stood down, putting them below Antony in the pecking order, Diallo shone.
The new head coach is constantly tinkering and rotating personnel as he searches for the best players for individual roles but Diallo is making himself almost undroppable and will get another start against Bournemouth on Sunday as he aims to add to his two league goals and six assists this season. The 22-year-old is approaching his fourth anniversary as a United player, having joined in January 2021 for £18.7m from Atalanta.
He soon offered a glimpse of his talents by scoring twice for the under-23s in a 6-3 win over Liverpool in his first appearance. “He trained for a couple of days before with us,” says United’s former under-23s head coach Neil Wood. “You could see straight away he was very young but had quality, he was very technically gifted, he had good football intelligence.
He stood out, you could see the lads gravitated towards him, towards giving him the ball. He raised the level, raised the standards. That’s what you’re looking for a player like that to do.
” Ole Gunnar Solskjær gave him some early opportunities, scoring in his third game for the club against Milan in the Europa League but with the Norwegian departed chances dwindled and he was sent to Rangers and then Sunderland on loan. If Ibrox was a learning curve, time at the Stadium of Light was his breakthrough. He spearheaded a surprise promotion push, taking the Black Cats into the playoffs in 2022-23.
Diallo scored 14 goals in 39 appearances in the Championship for an inexperienced team that were not expected to trouble the top half. Erik ten Hag saw the need for a left-footed winger capable of cutting in from the right but he decided Antony was the answer, blocking Diallo’s path. He was used sparingly and never seemed to convince the Dutchman that he could be the answer to United’s many problems.
Noussair Mazraoui was used as a No 10 at Fenerbahce in one of Ten Hag’s final games and Diogo Dalot would be given a role on the right of midfield, but Diallo would maintain his own high standards. “His attitude was brilliant,” says Wood. “He was training with the first team, but when he came down he didn’t train any differently.
He was new to the club, in a different country and had to quickly learn the language. He had a lot of barriers to overcome as well but the quality was there.” Amorim is eager for his players to train like they will play and Diallo has shown constant enthusiasm, his example clear to others if they are to be granted more playing time.
Diallo is the fourth most used outfield player under Amorim, behind his fellow Portuguese Dalot and Bruno Fernandes, and Mazraoui. Amorim might possess greater knowledge of his compatriots but is learning each day about the others he has inherited and it is clear he likes what he sees from Diallo, his work ethic highlighted when he chased down Fraser Forster to score at Tottenham in Thursday’s . Diallo can be flexible too, and he has played at right wing-back for Amorim, pushed further forward against City, entrusted with understanding complex roles.
He was lively throughout but was able to maintain focus and concentration, allowing him to punish City when theirs diminished. After showing such promise, it felt like an intervention that could ignite his career. Like Wood before him, Amorim has seen the spark and adaptability that will allow him to reach his potential finally.
“I remember saying at the time, he was a high level of quality and we just needed to be patient because it’s not going to be easy for him,” Wood says. That patience for Diallo and United is finally paying off..
