Erik ten Hag reveals Man Utd's plan for Amad Diallo
- Amad joined United from Atalanta for £37m in 2021
- The 21-year-old impressed last season on loan with Sunderland
- The Ivory Coast international, capped four times by his country, started United's pre-season victory over Leeds
By Tom Gott
Erik ten Hag insists he plans to keep working with winger Amad Diallo this summer before making a decision on his short-term future at the club.
The 21-year-old, a £37m signing from Atalanta in 2021, enjoyed an impressive loan spell in the Championship with Sunderland last season, bagging 14 goals and four assists in all competitions for the Black Cats.
Now back at United, Amad started the pre-season opener against Leeds and enjoyed an impressive 45-minute showing before widespread changes were made at half-time.
After the game, Ten Hag said it was too early to draw conclusions on Amad but did admit some of the squad's youngsters had caught his eye.
"You don’t make conclusions after one week," the Dutchman said of Amad, who has attracted plenty of loan interest from elsewhere. "Some of the young players impressed me, but I don’t want to single someone out. We are just in the first week, and I expected these levels and these performances.
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"I will tell them during our sessions what I expect from them. How we judge the levels, the performance on Wednesday, what they have to work on. But after one week I never make conclusions."
Among those likely to have caught the eye is 18-year-old academy midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, who managed three senior appearances under Ten Hag last season and has been tipped to play a greater role in the first team next season.
"It’s the first game and I think we have seen some good things," Ten Hag reflected to MUTV. "We’ve already trained over the last year, so we have a good foundation. You can see that in the game. But yeah, also some young lads came in and they fit in. We are now one week [into] training. We presented the rules and the principles. And what I see, what can I say: we have seen some good stuff."
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