Amad Diallo made his long-awaited return to action for Manchester United on December 30 and is already eagerly awaiting more minutes on the pitch.
The 21-year-old sustained an unfortunate knee injury during the Reds’ pre-season tour of the United States, which ruled him out of the first half of the 2023/24 campaign entirely.
Having overseen a scintillating loan spell with Sunderland last season, Amad would’ve been adamant about building on his newly-gained senior experience by playing a key role at Old Trafford and proving himself to manager Erik ten Hag. However, he was made to wait until United’s final Premier League match of 2023 to be granted his maiden outing of the term.
Amad came on in the 54th minute of the City Ground contest against Nottingham Forest, replacing Antony on the right flank and displaying a promising showing despite the 2-1 defeat.
Amad reacts
Speaking in the latest edition of United Review (as cited by ManUtd.com), the Ivorian reacted to the substitution and how it felt to be granted the cameo after undergoing a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
“We lost that match but now I’ve come in with more belief and with the desire to help the team as I’ve always wanted to do, and I want to continue on this path,” Amad began. “Whenever the coach calls me up or sends me on the pitch, I want to be always present to help the team.”
“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to play so soon,” he admitted. “I thought I would maybe be playing for the last 10 or 15 minutes because I was coming back from an injury but the fact that he brought me on at that moment meant that the coach trusted me, and I was really happy to have played in that match.
“I would have preferred us to win that match, yes we lost, but now we’ll focus on the next matches.”
