The Ivorian has earned the right to win at Old Trafford after shining in the Championship with the Black Cats last season.
Fourteen years after watching Cristiano Ronaldo leave the club to join Real Madrid at the height of their glory, Manchester United still have a problem down the right wing. Players like Antonio Valencia, Wilfried Zaha, Adnan Januzaj and Angel Di Maria were brought in to fill that void, but none of them managed to make the same impact.
There were real hopes that Jadon Sancho could turn the tide after moving from Borussia Dortmund in 2021 for £73m ($28m), but he turned out to be another big suitor. And then there’s Antony, the Brazilian winger who doesn’t seem right-footed and favors style over substance.
Antony cost over £10million more than Sancho last summer when Erik ten Hag launched another successful raid on his former club Ajax, but was just as ineffectual in his first season at Old Trafford. The 23-year-old is unlikely to suddenly turn into a goalscorer next year.
But Ten Hag now has another option: Amad Diallo, who returned to Carrington last week after spending the 2022-23 season on loan at Sunderland. United agreed a £37m ($47m) deal with Atalanta for Amad when he was just 18 in January 2021, and former head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer described it as “one of the most exciting young prospects in football”.
Amad hasn’t had the chance to live up to that reputation yet in Manchester, but he certainly deserves it after his short but memorable spell at the Stadium of Light.
Championship defenses couldn’t cope with Amad, and Premier League sides won’t want to face him either. If United are to improve on their third-place finish from last season, they need a player who can pose a bigger threat on the right flank – and taking a calculated risk with Amad could pay off.
Not to miss
2023-07-16 00:02:18
#Amad #Diallo #Antony #Man #Utd #winger #deserves #chance #shine #loan #spell #Sunderland #Goal.com #English
