Man United Already Have a ‘Vital’ Forward Despite €235m Summer Spending | OneFootball

Underrated Manchester United Star Could Define Their 2025/26 Campaign

If there was one phrase to describe Manchester United’s summer transfer window, it would be ‘quality over quantity.’ They’ve only signed three players, one being teenage left back Diego Leon, who has arrived from Cerro Porteno for €4 million, whilst they’ve also spent nearly €150 million on two of the best forwards in the Premier League: Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbuemo.

The Red Devils have furthered their attacking makeover after agreeing a deal for RB Leipzig’s Slovenian striker Benjamin Sesko, who joins for €85 million, bonuses included, with Leipzig receiving a sell-on clause entitling them to a percentage of any future transfer fee in addition a future friendly match against United.

With so many new faces in attack, it’s easy to forget about Amad Diallo.

Amad Diallo’s Story

Born in Abidjan, Diallo left the Ivory Coast for Italy at a young age, rising through the ranks at Atalanta. Despite barely playing for the first team, Diallo showed enough promise to convince Manchester United to pay an initial fee of €21.3 million, rising to €37 million with bonuses. Diallo made his senior debut for United on February 18, 2021, featuring sporadically before being loaned out to Rangers in January 2022.

Seven months later, Amad was sent out on loan to Sunderland, with new manager Erik ten Hag not considering him part of his plans. He racked up 14 goals and 4 assists across all competitions, finishing as Sunderland’s top scorer, before returning to Old Trafford. Whilst he showed various moments of magic, like his last-minute winner against Liverpool in the FA Cup, he never managed to consolidate his presence as a starter under Ten Hag.

Photo: IMAGO

However, with Ten Hag being dismissed in October, Amad suddenly went from a rotational player to a vital fixture under Ruben Amorim. He scored his first brace for United under Ruud van Nistelrooy before going on to impress as a right wingback as well as an attacking midfielder, grabbing a late equalizer in a 2-2 draw vs. Liverpool as well as winning a late penalty and scoring the winner in a comeback victory vs. Manchester City, in addition to becoming the first United player since Cristiano Ronaldo to score a hat-trick.

“It’s no surprise what he’s doing now,” stated Mitchell van der Gaag. “We knew as a staff about his qualities. In our first year, he joined Sunderland on loan and struggled at the beginning, but he was really good in the end, and then he came back and wanted to stay with us.”

Van der Gaag served as Ten Hag’s assistant coach from 2021 to 2024, winning the Eredivisie title in 2022, the EFL Cup in 2023, and the FA Cup in 2024, before departing Manchester in search of a head coaching role. After a one-year sabbatical, he returned to coaching after being appointed as FC Zurich’s new manager on May 31.

“Erik always believed in his potential”

Speaking to EPL Index in an exclusive interview, Van der Gaag admitted, “I know Erik always believed in his potential, even if he couldn’t give him more minutes at the time, we worked with him. Sometimes, you have players who develop quicker than other players…but he was always willing to listen. He was always prepared to do stuff, as you saw at the end of last season where he scored the winner vs. Liverpool. And this year, he has gotten more minutes and had a better understanding of what people expect from him and the experience of the Premier League.”

“The only one who can tell his future is Amad because he’s good, and he was always a player who was well-rounded in the things he did, but there were players like Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford and Antony competing with him. You have to take that opportunity when the moment arrives, and he did that. But it’s not that the staff didn’t work with him last year. Erik saw his potential once again and worked with him and saw his quality already.”

Diallo’s seismic eruption in United’s first team was halted in early February after damaging his ankle ligaments in training. But whilst Amorim had confirmed that he would miss the rest of the season, he returned three months later and scored against Brentford and Aston Villa and assisted against Athletic Club, gradually working his way back to the starting line-up just in time for the UEFA Europa League Final, where he became the first player in history to lose three Europa League Finals.

With Sesko, Cunha and Mbuemo working their magic alongside Bruno Fernandes in the final third, all signs point to Amad playing the bulk of the 2025/26 season at the right wing-back position. At 23 years old, he’s only just getting started, and he looks set to play an essential role for United as they look to bounce back from their nightmare 2024/25 campaign as well as the Ivory Coast as they seek to successfully defend their AFCON title.