Sunderland manager tips Manchester United loanee for “big money” move

Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray has weighed in on Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo’s future.

The 20-year-old is spending the season on loan with the Black Cats and is continuing to impress both sets of supporters.

As well as that, Amad has received plaudits across the division for his scintillating form and has seen himself shortlisted for Championship Young Player of the Season.

Yesterday, he fired home his 12th goal of the season with a sensational long-range strike to secure Sunderland a crucial three points against Birmingham City.

It leaves Erik ten Hag with a huge decision to make in the summer when the Ivorian returns to Old Trafford; Amad will be keen on frequent first-team football having been a regular starter this season and won’t want to be kept to just sit on the bench. Whether or not the manager can offer him that remains to be seen, as there is a lot of quality across United’s attacking options.

Mowbray on Amad

Mowbray had his say on the matter and admitted it’s “pretty unlikely” the youngster will be sent back to the Stadium of Light for a second loan spell.

He said (via The Mirror): “I have a good feeling for Amad that if he’s not back at United he will go for big, big money to a top Spanish team. He loves football and wants to play so what do you do if you are 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 for them? Or do you want to go out and play?

“So are they going to sell him? If they do they will want to recoup their money which was reputedly 40 [million] euros or whatever it was. The reality is he won’t be coming here, in my mind, unless they think he is going to be one hell of a player and needs to play, or he enjoys Sunderland and should keep going to play for them.

“That would be the ideal scenario for us. Pretty unlikely I would suggest, but you never know because if they see him as genuinely someone who can play in their first team down the line they could keep him on board.

“I would suggest they would try him at another level and he’d go (on loan) to the Premier League, or go back to Italy or Seria A or Spain. But let’s hope he is playing at Sunderland and banging in goals. There is a better chance if we are in the Premier League, he is playing against Premier League teams.”