Manchester United benefited from a spark provided by Amad Diallo to inspire a win over Newcastle.
Erik ten Hag has shown a little reluctance to put his faith in Amad this season, despite him returning from injury at the end of December.
The last two games have been a little different. Amad has started back to back Premier League games for the first time in his career at the club.
The Ivorian produced a stunning performance against Newcastle, providing one assist and scoring one goal in a 3-2 win.
Amad praised
Amad’s lively performance captured the attention of Manchester United fans and he isnow in contention to start the FA Cup Final.
His low centre of gravity and quick feet makes him a tough player for opponents to deal with, and he showed against Newcastle that there is magic in his boots.
Amad received the highest compliment from one of his former teammates, Noam Emeran, who he shard a pitch with in pre-season, with the Frenchman later sold to Groningen.
Emeran sent Amad a message with two words, saying simply ‘Leo Messi’, paying tribute to the Manchester United winger, by comparing him to Alejandro Garnacho‘s international teammate, a multiple-time Ballon d’Or winner.
There was also a message of respect left by Arda Guler, with the Real Madrid prospect happy with the way Amad echoed his own recent celebration.
Amad inspired by Lionel Messi
The compliment is the highest possible one Amad could receive where the Manchester United winger is concerned.
Amad has made no secret of his admiration for the 2022 World Cup winner, and played down comparisons.
He was previously compared to the former Barcelona man by his old Atalanta teammate Papu Gomez, who said: “He is a future star, trust me. During our training, he seems like Lionel Messi! You can’t stop him.”
Amad told club media: “I know they said this [that I was like Lionel Messi in training] but no-one plays like Messi. No-one plays like Messi. I am proud he [Gomez] says I play like Messi but I say no-one plays like Messi! In training, I was like the same here, with a little bit of dribbling and scoring, so they say my football is more like Messi but, today, I say no-one can play like Messi.”
Amad is moving on from just doing it in training sessions, and producing performances on the pitch. Let’s hope there are a lot more big performances to come like the one we saw in midweek. He is only just getting started.
