The Red Devils winger faces added competition for places from an exciting youngster, but a hot prospect has been welcomed into the fold
Daniel James is among those to be getting excited about Amad Diallo at Manchester United, with the Welsh winger admitting that a direct rival for regular game time has got “unbelievable feet”.
The Red Devils invested in the potential of the 18-year-old Amad during the summer of 2020 and welcomed him onto their books during the January transfer window.
Amad has been catching the eye at Under-23 level, allowing him to make his senior debut in a Europa League clash with Real Sociedad, and big things are expected at Old Trafford.
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What has been said?
James told United Review of the impact made by the highly-rated Ivorian: “Amad has come in and, as a young lad, he’s been unbelievable in training.
“I mean his professionalism [is very good] and he’s settled in straight away, I’d say, do you know what I mean?
“We see his quality in training, he has unbelievable feet, but we’ve seen he also presses well and wins the ball back, which is exactly what we want.”
When did Amad make his debut?
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer handed the youngster seven minutes off the bench in United’s 4-0 win over Sociedad on February 18.
The Red Devils boss has confirmed that Amad will be in his plans once again when the return leg of that last-32 showdown is taken in on Thursday.
Is Amad a threat to James?
The Wales international had been struggling for minutes prior to another attacking option being brought on board.
He now faces added competition for places, but has found the target in each of his last three appearances.
James hopes those efforts will help to keep him in contention, with the 23-year-old adding on the challenges he faces and collective desire to get the job done against Sociedad: “I think, whenever I get called upon, I must always be ready.
“It was an enjoyable game [the first leg]. At times, we had to be patient as they had a bit of the ball. We always knew that because they are a very good team, especially on the ball. So they were going to keep it, at times, but I think our game plan came together a lot better in the second half. We made a lot of breaks and that is how we got the goals.
“Obviously it’s not over yet as they have still got to come to us, but we will go into the game with the same attitude as we did for the away tie.”
Further reading
- Shoretire aiming to emulate homegrown stars after ‘dream’ debut
- Rice airs transfer hope for ‘ridiculously top player’ Lingard
- ‘Sancho impressing without transfer pressure’
