Amad Diallo has claimed Erik ten Hag helped him acquire a loan to Sunderland so he could "gain confidence" and come back to Old Trafford "more prepared."
The 20-year-old has had a successful season while playing for the Championship club, tallying 14 goals thus far, including one on Saturday in a 2-1 victory over Luton in the first leg of the play-off semifinal.
Amad has been selected as the Black Cats' Young Player of the Year, and United has extended an invitation to him to the FA Cup final between Manchester City and United next month. With Sunderland, he hopes to go there a few days sooner so that they may compete in the play-off final for Premier League promotion.
The forward has revealed what Erik ten Hag told him ahead of his loan spell to the Stadium Of Light outfit. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “I spoke to him before I came here.
“He said it would be a good experience for me to play more games, to get more confidence and to come back to Manchester more ready.”
Two months after signing, in March 2021, Amad scored his first goal while making nine appearances for United's senior team. Prior to being sent on Ten Hag's preseason summer tour, the young player spent six months on loan at Rangers the previous season. Before scoring in a friendly game against Wrexham behind closed doors, he appeared four times off the bench.
Despite not having been for the Reds first squad since December 2021, Ten Hag claims he still sees a future for the young player at Old Trafford. Earlier this week, he stated: “We loan such players to make development and make progress to bring them back, that is the aim of the loan.
"So we are really strong with them, we mentor them, we follow them, we have communication over the season, especially (technical director) Darren Fletcher invests a lot in such processes, the aim is to bring them back but as a better player with experience."
Amad says he wishes to get his chance back in the United first-team next season, adding: “I have a lot of thoughts in my head but my ambition now is to come back to Manchester United and maybe to get my chance.”
Amad Diallo scored an incredible curling goal for loan team Sunderland, earning manager Tony Mowbray's moniker of "magician."
The 20-year-old Ivorian has played for the Black Cats in the Championship while away from Manchester United. Both the player and his loan team have had success this season.
Following a fantastic goal this afternoon in the first leg of Sunderland's Championship play-offs semifinal against Luton Town, Diallo has now scored 14 goals so far this season. At the Stadium of Light, the Black Cats triumphed 2-1.
The Black Cats, who managed to squeak into the final play-off spot on the penultimate day of the season, fell behind to Elijah Adebayo's 11th-minute opener before tying the score just before halftime with a beautiful Amad goal. The United loanee brought down the roof of the Stadium of Light with a magnificent free kick that he curved into the far corner of the goal.
The hosts' second-half goal came from Trai Hume, who ultimately scored the winning goal. On Tuesday night, Sunderland will travel to Kenilworth Road for the next leg.
Amad's abilities were evident to Mowbray during the campaign, so he was unsurprised by the blow and branded the young man a "magician." The Black Cats will now aim to arrive at Wembley on Tuesday night with a victory.
Speaking after the game, Mowbray said: "Amad, he's a magician with his left peg and he's scored many goals like that this season.
"So it's no surprise to anybody. It was a great goal."
"2-1 into the next leg, but nobody is getting carried away. We know how tough it is at Luton, they flood your box, they've got lots of big players and you've got to try and deny them set plays and corners."
"They showed tonight they're a good football team, they moved the ball around well, and they've got some very athletic players and some talented individuals. We have to get ready and start feeling as if it's 0-0 and go to Luton and try and get a positive result."
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