Man Utd gem was ahead of Amad, then Ten Hag sold him for just £5m

Amad Diallo is a player who has hugely benefitted from the appointment of Ruben Amorim at Manchester United, having the opportunity to showcase his talents at Old Trafford.

The Ivorian joined in a £37m deal from Italian side Atalanta back in 2021 but found minutes hard to come by under former boss Erik ten Hag – even joining Sunderland on loan for the 2022/23 season.

However, this campaign has undoubtedly been his best with the Red Devils, notching nine goals and seven assists within his 36 appearances across all competitions.

The 22-year-old netted a hat-trick in the 3-1 win against Southampton at the Theatre of Dreams, helping the side claim all three points after going a goal down in the first half.

However, his progress under Amorim has been halted in recent weeks, unable to continue on the upward trajectory he’s been on since the 40-year-old’s appointment in November.

How Amad is recovering from his injury setback

Amad has been missing for the last six weeks after sustaining an ankle injury in training, with his last outing coming in the 2-1 FA Cup victory over Leicester City at the start of February.

After his setback, Amorim confirmed that it was unlikely that he would feature for the club once again this campaign, with his injury worse than initially first feared.

However, despite the recent spell on the sidelines, there’s some optimism that the youngster could return to action before the end of the season, with the manager giving him every chance of returning ahead of schedule.

After the draw with Sociedad, the manager said: “Even Amad, we will see in the end of the last month. I don’t want to say anything, but I have the hope to have Amad before the end of the season.”

There’s hope that he can play a pivotal role in any success next season, but the responsibility could’ve potentially fallen to another player had he continued his early form at Old Trafford.

The former United star who was once ahead of Amad

Over the years, United have made various investments into the front line to try and catapult them back towards Premier League success after a decade-long drought.

Amad is just one of multiple players who have tried to change the fortunes of the club, with others not being as successful in their quest for stardom in the North West.

Facundo Pellistri was just one of the attackers who has joined the Red Devils in recent years, costing a fee in the region of £9m in October 2020 from Peñarol.

Whilst he would spend his first two years out on loan at Spanish outfit Alaves, he would return to the first team fold ahead of the 2022/23 season, the year in which Amad would spend on loan at Sunderland.

The Uruguayan international would make 10 appearances under Ten Hag that season, leading to journalist Andy Mitten labelling him as “magnificent”.

He operated in a wide attacking role, whilst also featuring at full-back, similar to how the Ivorian has done since Amorim’s arrival, being ahead of the youngster a couple of years ago.

However, after moving on loan to Grenada last season, he wouldn’t return to Old Trafford, joining Greek side Panathinaikos for a fee in the region of £5m last summer.

It’s a real shame to see his career fail to work out the way many expected it to after the early promise that he showed during the opening years of his spell in Manchester.

Pellistri has the chance to kickstart his career away from England, after losing his first-team place due to the emergence of Diallo over the last couple of seasons.

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