2024-11-08 21:35:02
It was the type of tenacity, drive and endeavour that, in all honesty, not many others in a Manchester United shirt had shown on a low-key night at Old Trafford.
Amad had already done more than his team-mates to impress any incoming manager watching on in Lisbon, opening the scoring with a looping headed goal that his all-round performance had warranted, but he was not done yet.
As PAOK full-back Baba Rahman awkwardly juggled his interception of a Christian Eriksen pass, he did not notice Amad darting up behind him. A toe poke took the ball away from Rahman, a wrestle kept it away from him, then Amad cut inside to curl a shot around goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski to seal a 2-o win.
“The second goal, that had everything in it that is Amad Diallo,” said interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy in his post-match press conference, hailing Amad’s desire to charge down Rahman and create the chance.
But running a few more yards is nothing when you are the type of player who often goes the extra mile.
“Every day after training he comes to me and wants to do extra finishing, extra crossing, ‘How can I improve my heading?’,” Van Nistelrooy said, providing a glowing character reference of his match-winner.
“He’s constantly focused on learning and getting better, living in a professional way and he’s very motivated to get the best out of his career. I was very pleased for him.”
Amad, 22, is no stranger to extracurricular work. It was only summer last year that he could be spotted on the astroturf pitches of Fallowfield — a part of Manchester synonymous with university students — training with a coach who was working in United’s pre-academy programme.
Having just returned from his successful loan at Sunderland, Amad wanted to do everything possible to be considered a fully-fledged part of Erik ten Hag’s first-team squad. If that meant organising personal sessions, so be it.
It may still not have been enough. Several Serie A clubs were expressing an interest in Amad that summer and he may have left on loan once more until he tore his knee meniscus on United’s pre-season tour of the United States, an injury which all but ensured he would be staying put.
Although it sidelined him for five months, that injury in some ways earned him another opportunity under Ten Hag. Once Amad returned, Jadon Sancho had been cast out and United were in the grip of an injury crisis.
Without that particular set of circumstances falling into place as they did, Amad’s iconic goal, celebration and sending-off at the close of that epic FA Cup quarter-final against Liverpool maybe never happens.
Yet even after that moment, Ten Hag still seemed reluctant to fully trust Amad. That only came at the tail end of last season — immediately after the nadir of the 4-0 defeat away to Crystal Palace — when Amad started United’s final three league games, scoring and assisting once.
It initially carried over into the new campaign. Amad started the first three games, only dropping out after scoring in the 2-1 defeat away to Brighton & Hove Albion. After returning against Southampton and registering an assist, he was back on the bench a week and a half later.
That is understandable for a player who is still only considered for a rotation role. But from the glimpses Amad has shown, there is an argument for giving him more exposure.
Amad is still a prospect but in his fifth season at Old Trafford, he is also the senior partner in United’s core of young talent— a year older than Rasmus Hojlund, two older than Alejandro Garnacho, three older than Kobbie Mainoo, four older than Leny Yoro.
And yet of those four youngsters, he is the furthest from a regular starting place, and the least certain of one under the incoming manager.
If Ruben Amorim is to stick to his trusted 3-4-3, one of the four attacking spots in Ten Hag’s typical system will be dispensed with. Only two — the pair of inside forwards roles, behind striker Hojlund — suit Amad. And at least one of those, you imagine, will be taken up by captain Bruno Fernandes.
Amad is into his fifth season at Old Trafford (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
With Garnacho and Marcus Rashford vying for the other spot and still ahead in the pecking order, four does not go into two, to say nothing of Mason Mount and Antony’s hopes for more playing time.
There is therefore a chance Amad’s minutes are only further limited by Amorim’s arrival, particularly if the Portuguese is as dogmatic about his system as expected. The wing-back suggestions are not going away, though.
Amorim will need to be creative in that role if he persists with the same setup. Amad’s natural left-footedness could help given the paucity of options down that flank in the absences of Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia. And yet to watch him skip and twist through defences, as he did to PAOK’s on one mazy first-half dribble, and it feels a waste to shift such talents further back.
Hanging over all this is the issue of Amad’s contract. The Ivorian’s deal is set to expire in the summer, though United can trigger an option to extend for a further year.
That option means United have more time on their hands, but Amad’s change of representation this year — joining up with the same agency that represents Garnacho — indicated that it would soon be time to gather around the negotiating table.
Amad made no secret of his preferred outcome when asked directly about his contract situation in the Old Trafford mixed zone. “I’m happy to be here,” he said. “I’m happy to play for this club. I want to stay here for a long, long time to make history with this club.”
And even if starting opportunities do prove even harder to come by under Amorim, you can be sure Amad will be putting in the extra hours to earn them.
(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
