Amad Diallo: Man Utd warned they could lose 'one hell of a player'

Robin Bairner

• 17 Apr 2023 10:47 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United have been warned that they could lose “one hell of a player” in the form of Amad Diallo by Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray.

Amad is on loan with the Championship club from the Red Devils this season and after a complicated 2021/22 campaign, the young winger is thriving in English football’s second tier.

The 20-year-old has scored 12 goals in 33 Championship matches, most recently scoring a brilliant winner on Saturday against Birmingham to keep Sunderland’s playoff hopes alive.

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Amad, whose peak career Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) was €13.8 million, is spearheading the Black Cats’ charge for the top six, with the Wearside club two points behind Blackburn with four matches remaining.

Mowbray believes that Man Utd’s handling of the player with have to be deft if they are to retain him.

“He loves football, he wants to play, so what do you do if you’re at Manchester United? Are you happy just to be a Manchester United player and play six sub appearances and two starts over a season of 60 games, or do you want to go and play?” he said.

“So do they sell him? And if they do they’ll want to recoup their money, which was reputedly €40m or whatever it was. The reality is he won’t be coming here unless they think he is going to be one hell of a player, but he needs another year out, he enjoys Sunderland so he can go and keep playing for them.

“That would be the ideal scenario for us. Pretty unlikely but you never know. If they see him as someone they genuinely feel can play for their first team then they need to keep him on board.”

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Amad destined for LaLiga?

Mowbray, who won three caps for England B during his playing days, has predicted Amad’s future.

“I would suggest they’ll try another level,” he said. “You would think he’ll go to the Premier League or go back to Italy. My gut feeling for Amad is if he doesn’t stay at Manchester United he goes for big, big money to a top Spanish team really.”

Amad has played nine times for Manchester United’s first team and has scored one goal.