Man Utd breakthrough? Ten Hag calls on Amad Diallo to make 2024/25 his year | OneFootball

Erik ten Hag has laid down a challenge to Manchester United winger Amad Diallo, insisting 2024/25 must be ‘the year’ he fulfils his potential.

The Ivorian winger arrived as a hot prospect for big money from Atalanta in January 2021 but so far, has struggled to make an impression at Old Trafford.

Diallo has enjoyed most of his action since joining Man Utd away from the club on loan, first at Rangers for the second half of the 2021/22 season, then in the Championship at Sunderland for the 2022/23 campaign. The forward did more than enough to impress across those loans, scoring three goals in 13 appearances north of the border before notching 14 goals and four assists in 42 appearances for the Black Cats.

That left Diallo looking set to make an impact with Manchester United, only for his 2023/24 campaign to be largely derailed by a knee injury that resulted in him missing 27 games. Consequently, Diallo was restricted to just 12 appearances across all competitions but even in those limited minutes, he raised eyebrows with two goals and an assist, scoring the extra-time winner in a dramatic 4-3 FA Cup win over Liverpool en route to lifting the trophy, while scoring one and setting up the other in a 3-2 Premier League victory over Newcastle.

“I think every player [is in contention]. Amad has had a difficult season because of a worse injury, he fought back and then he had to wait a long [time],” Ten Hag said of Diallo after that Newcastle match, adding: “His performances in training and progression in training was very good to see. Now he got his chance and he has taken his opportunity and that is how it should work.

“There is always internal competition and I am very pleased with his level at this moment. It can be a foundation to improve more and go to higher levels.”

The signs are good that Diallo has done enough to earn another shot with Man Utd this season, with the winger playing a starring role in their recent 2-0 pre-season win over Rangers, scoring the opening goal while creating three chances and completing two of his three attempted dribbles.

Now, 22 years old, 2024/25 will be a critical season for Diallo to prove himself and Ten Hag has laid down a challenge to the player to make it his year.

“We have to see Amad in a different way,” Ten Hag said after the win over Rangers at Murrayfield. “Of course, he’s still young but he is not inexperienced any more.

“Last season he had bad times with bad injuries. Before that, he was in the Championship and he had a great season. At the end of last season, he had a very good time in our first team and played some good games. Now for this season, this has to be the year. It’s great that he starts like this. On Monday he couldn’t play, he was not allowed to go into Norway, but today he could play and he played a very good game.”

Diallo faces competition on the Old Trafford flanks from the likes of Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Antony. However, with the latter two either landing in Ten Hag’s bad books or generally underwhelming in a red shirt, he may just have found the breakthrough he’s been so patiently waiting for.