Aston Villa unsure Amad Diallo can cut it in the Premier League
FT Desk
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:46 CDT
- 3 min read
Amad Diallo is bound for the Manchester United exit door following Antony's €100 million arrival from Ajax, but his future might lie outside of the Premier League with Aston Villa having doubts.
There was significant excitement surrounding the Ivorian youngster when he swapped Atalanta for United in a €40m deal in January 2021, but his path to first-team football has been blocked ever since.
United splashed out €85m to bring Jadon Sancho to Old Trafford from Borussia Dortmund that summer and Diallo spent the second half of last season on loan at Rangers, where he struggled to get past Ryan Kent.
#MUFC loanee Amad Diallo was on target for Rangers at the weekend 🔥pic.twitter.com/biwsHomrHU
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) May 9, 2022
Villa are in need of a pacy wide man, with Leon Bailey struggling to convince consistently and Steven Gerrard on the cusp of the worst managerial record in the club's history should they lose to Arsenal and Manchester City in their next two games.
Gerrard previously scouted Diallo at Rangers, but he left for Aston Villa two months before the 20-year-old finally arrived at Ibrox. However, Villa, and a number of other Premier League clubs have been left off a potential list of his suitors.
"Turkish side Beskitas and Belgian club Anderlecht have both been credited with an interest in the Ivorian winger," write the Manchester Evening News. "While it is understood a number of Championship sides are also keen, namely Blackpool and Sunderland.
"A move to the second-tier of English football might appeal to United the most, as the club are keen for Amad to get used to playing in the conditions he would expect to face in their first team."
Top tier interest is conspicuous by its absence, even if the once €40m player is now only ranked at €1m by Football Transfers' sophisticated inhouse algorithm.
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How good is Diallo?
A slick, left-footed dribbler, Amad moved to Italy as a 15-year-old and lit up Atalanta's youth academy ranks, scoring 37 goals and assisting 24 more in 93 games, winning back-to-back Italian under-19 titles in 2019 and 2020.
He has so far struggled to adapt to the physicality of senior professional football, though, and United hope that a loan deal down the divisions will help him get used to the rough and tumble of the English game.
