Amad believes he will become “one of the best in the world” at Man United | OneFootball

“I believe I can be one of the best in the world.”

It is a bold statement for any Manchester United player to make outside of Bruno Fernandes after a disastrous season for the Red Devils. But Amad is a rare player at Old Trafford whose boldness on the ball matches up to his boldness in backing his own abilities.

The Ivory Coast international has emerged as one of the best young wingers in England this year after a frustrating start to the campaign under Erik ten Hag, who was dismissed by INEOS at the end of October.

One particularly eye-catching moment came in Turkey after the Dutchman had decided to start the match against Fenerbahce with right-back Noussair Mazraoui as a number ten as captain Fernandes was unavailable, despite there being three senior attackers on the bench, including Amad.

This choice then became even more baffling after Ten Hag opted to send on Antony – widely seen as United’s worst ever signing – ahead of the Ivorian with the Reds chasing a winner. Assistant coach Ruud van Nistelrooy publicly comforted Amad on the bench after the substitution.

A week later, Ten Hag was sacked. But while Amad acknowledges his “frustration” at this decision, he is keen to stress his gratitude to the Dutch manager who

“I need the game time to show I can play for this club,” the 22-year-old states in an interview with the Manchester Evening News. “In that moment, I was a little bit frustrated because you can understand sometimes maybe you deserve to play and you don’t play. You have a little bit of frustration.

“But I think now it’s because the manager believes in me. He believes in my potential. I’m trying to repay his confidence every time I’m on the pitch.

“Honestly, Erik helped me a lot. He was giving me a lot of advice, even when I wasn’t playing. He was telling me to train very hard every time. That’s the most important thing when a manager keeps telling you to train hard, even if you don’t play.

“So I kept training very hard, very hard. I think this season, at the beginning, I was playing a lot with him. I want to thank him again for the opportunity he gave me and I want to wish him all the best.”

An unfortunate ankle injury, sustained in training in February, had initially appeared to have ended Amad’s season just as he had firmly cemented himself as one of the first names on Ruben Amorim’s team sheet, who replaced Ten Hag in November.

But the Manchester Evening News reveals “[Amad] reflects on the two-and-a-half-month lay-off positively. [He] required surgery and ‘kept praying to be back before the end of the season. So this happened and now I’m happy.'”

“I’m always positive, I’m always smiling with everyone, so that’s my natural thing. That’s me, that’s Amad, so I always try to grow up with positive things.”

Perhaps the most striking takeaway from the interview is Amad’s understated confidence. He firmly believes in his ability to develop into a world-class player, but it stems from a modest sense of his own skillset, rather than ego-driven exaggeration.

“I believe in my potential,” Amad states. “I believe I can be one of the best in the world. I just have to give my best every game. That’s it. But I think I believe in my potential.”

Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images

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