When Amad Diallo runs out for Manchester United at Old Trafford on Thursday night, fans of Glasgow Rangers could be forgiven for checking twice to see if it’s the same player who spent five months on loan at Ibrox just three short years ago.
Diallo the new darling of Old Trafford. Diallo the young man with a new £100,000-a-week contract. Diallo the player United worked hard to keep while holding talks over the potential departures of Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford.
It’s quite a contrast from the Diallo who flopped on loan at Rangers after moving from United in January 2022, hitting a low point when he was substituted at half-time of his first Old Firm game against Celtic.
So often in football, it’s about being in the right place at the right time. Fortune hasn’t always smiled on Diallo in the four years since he arrived at United, but the instantly likeable Ivorian is reaping the rewards now.
No player has fitted better into the system and ethos brought to Old Trafford by new head coach Ruben Amorim. Theirs seems to be a match made in heaven.
While other wide players like Rashford and Garnacho suddenly face an uncertain future at the club, the young man who could easily have walked away as a free agent this summer has a new five-and-a-half-year contract and the adulation of all United fans.
Amad Diallo has become the darling of Old Trafford with his displays for Man United this year
The winger has flourished since the arrival of new United boss Ruben Amorim
A 12-minute hat-trick as Amorim’s side came from behind to beat Southampton a week ago cemented Diallo’s place in their hearts, coming on the back of his goals in the win over Manchester City and the draw at Liverpool. The little winger is the man for the big occasion.
Since Erik ten Hag was sacked at the end of October, Diallo has started 13 games under caretaker Ruud van Nistelrooy and Amorim, scoring eight goals and five assists in all competitions.
Only Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak, of Newcastle, have been involved in more Premier League goals for their teams.
Despite a momentous FA Cup quarter-final winner against Liverpool last season, Diallo didn’t always seem to have the trust of Ten Hag who preferred his former Ajax winger Antony or Rashford on the right flank.
It came to a head in the manager’s penultimate game away to Fenerbahce when a stony-faced Diallo was sent on as an 89th-minute substitute for Antony and had to be placated on the touchline by coaching staff.
The renaissance began under Van Nistelrooy with Diallo requesting extra work from the former United striker, as he often did under Ten Hag’s forwards’ coach Benni McCarthy. It paid off with both goals against PAOK Salonika in November.
The 22-year-old has reached another level under Amorim, however, playing either as a right wing-back or inside right in a 3-4-3 formation.
Diallo set up a goal for Rashford inside two minutes of Amorim’s first game at Ipswich and was man of the match against Everton. In those first two Premier League games under Amorim, he ran 19.8km – more than any other United player.
The winger spent five months on loan with Rangers after he initially joined United
Diallo epitomises the selfless attitude and versatility Amorim wants from his team
Diallo epitomises the selfless attitude and versatility Amorim wants from his team. The Portuguese wrote about ‘fight, heart and hunger’ in his programme notes for the Southampton game, and his No.16 displayed all three as he hunted down a hat-trick.
Diallo, who speaks English, French and Italian, is particularly close to Rasmus Hojlund, Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo, who shielded his Muslim teammate from the champagne spray when United won the FA Cup at Wembley in May.
Club insiders describe a bright, determined and ambitious young man who has come out of his shell since breaking into the first team and is embracing the responsibility of being a senior player.
It’s quite the turnaround since he joined United from Atalanta in January 2021 for a fee of £19m plus £18.2m in add-ons.
Diallo has faced his fair share of problems, not least the allegations of player trafficking that followed him from Ivory Coast to Italy and led to a £40,000 fine.
Diallo joined United from Atalanta in January 2021 for a fee of £19m plus £18.2m in add-ons
Then there was the difficult spell at Rangers. It brought three goals in 13 games and a Scottish FA Cup winners’ medal, but Diallo’s farewell was an unused substitute in the Europa League final defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.
He flourished during a significantly more successful spell at Sunderland under the tutelage of Tony Mowbray who insisted on Diallo displaying the work ethic he wanted before playing him.
‘The journey wasn’t easy at the beginning. Sunderland gave me a lot of confidence, and supported me and my family inside and outside the pitch,’ said Diallo after signing his new contract last week.
Now United are benefitting as well. ‘I want to be here for a long, long, long time,’ he added. ‘Not just for five more years, but maybe for all my life.’
