Amad Diallo evolved into being a starter for Erik ten Hag during the final weeks of the Premier League season for Manchester United.
This past season was a bizarre one for many reasons at Manchester United. But for Amad Diallo, the most bizarre thing will have been how quickly he went from zero to hero.
Being injured for the opening few months of the season, the Ivorian returned in January only to barely play until he was given a chance in the FA Cup against Liverpool.
In this game, Amad emerged from the bench and scored the winning goal in that 4-3 quarter-final victory, a goal which looks even more important after United went on to lift the trophy.
After this, he then disappeared again but did end up starting some games at the very end of the Premier League season, scoring and assisting against Newcastle.
Now, it’s been revealed how the club feel about him this summer, and it spells bad news for one player in the squad.
How Manchester United feel about Amad Diallo
Up until Amad was afforded two consecutive starts to conclude the Premier League season, the future of Amad Diallo looked vague, to say the least.
He won’t have been content with how little he played last season in comparison to Antony, especially when his impact was far greater.
But now, according to the Manchester Evening News, Amad will have a new role at the club next season after impressing during his appearances to end the season.
The report explains that Amad is now viewed as an integral squad member for the future, which seems only right considering when he’s played, he’s been very impressive.
United are said to have placed in the same bracket as Alejandro Garnacho, Kobbie Mainoo and Rasmus Hojlund as players who will be stars at Old Trafford going forward. With Erik ten Hag also including Amad in this quartet during a recent interview.
But this leaves one £86m man in the cold, with no place in the starting line-up and is rapidly losing Ten Hag’s support.
Where does this leave Antony?
With Amad becoming a bonafide first-team star, this will only push Antony further down the pecking order in the United squad. This is also the case as Ten Hag is losing patience with him and reports have even explained that he ripped into Antony.
Amad is so ‘talented’ and he is expected to feature more next season. This could leave Antony with limited opportunities, but he can’t really argue to the contrary after a terrible campaign.
Throughout the entire campaign, Amad featured for just 471 minutes across all competitions, and in this time he scored twice and assisted once – averaging a goal contribution every 157 minutes he was on the field. This is a number that would surely have been more if he wasn’t limited to cameos.
In comparison, Antony has 1,910 minutes on the pitch and scored three and assisted two in that time – a goal contribution every 382 minutes.
For Antony, his career could be at a weird junction, with a future at United looking unlikely but it’s also a struggle to expect he will have many clubs in the running to sign him.