Manchester United fans are getting very excited by the ‘seriously talented’ Amad Diallo ahead of next season — and rightly so
At just 20-years-old, he's arguably been not just Sunderland's best player all season but one of the best in the Championship. Is he ready for the Premier League?
With the 2022/23 campaign now drawing to a close, Manchester United are on the verge of securing top-four and perhaps even an FA Cup, but most fans are already looking towards the next season and what aspects they can build on — the squad being the most obvious answer.
It only took a few injuries and suspensions to reveal that Erik ten Hag‘s options were much thinner than first thought, with several players in key positions suffering setbacks throughout the season, including Raphael Varane, Marcus Rashford, Casemiro, Marcel Sabitzer and, of course, Lisandro Martinez.
However, rather than dipping straight into the transfer market, fans are delighted to have received regular reminders throughout the season that there’s already an existing Red who could be added into the mix come August: Amad Diallo.
The 20-year-old is on the books at United but has spent the year on loan at Sunderland, where he has enjoyed a seriously impressive campaign and has been dubbed by many as “one of the signings of the season”. Here’s one of his most recent from the Championship play-off semi-final on 13 May:
Ok, so the youngster can hit a naughty little free-kick which happened to come in a big game — not totally unheard of, but why exactly are people getting so excited by Amad’s game on the whole?
Not only does that happen to be more than any other Sunderland player but it also saw him win the EFL’s Young Player of the Month for January and the club’s Young Player of the Year award in April.
Moreover, he does have a tendency to score the odd banger. Just a few days before scoring the goal shown above, he netted this absolutely wonderful first-time strike in an equally important game which saw the Black Cats cement their spot in the playoff positions:
Amad Deserves a chance next season what a player 👏
As you can see, United fans are understandably very excited by clips like these and for anyone that’s actually sat down to watch him this year, you’ll know that he’s often looked like one of the best players on the pitch, even regardless of his limited experience.
Not only was he the club’s top goalscorer this season, sitting in 11th overall in the league table when it comes to the number of goal contributions, but he’s regularly the one driving the attacking impetus for Tony Mowbray’s side week in, week out.
Speaking of his progress, the Sunderland boss recently said that Amad is an “amazing player” and often “finds the game too easy”, adding that even if he doesn’t play for United next season, he will go for “big, big money”, having already pretty much accepted he’s unlikely to return to the Stadium of Light.
Following his massive equaliser against Luton Town, even Gary Lineker felt he had to jump on Twitter to laud the Ivorian starlet, labelling him a “seriously talented” prospect.
Stunning goal from the seriously talented Amad Diallo. A thing of beauty that levels it.
His incisive passing, driving forward runs and fine finishing might not have been enough to see Sunderland all the way through to the playoff final, losing 3-2 on aggregate to Luton, but he’s already done more than enough to prove he’s one of Europe’s brightest prospects.
Sharing an emotional and disappointed statement after the defeat, social media was awash with people praising him as “the best loan signing ever” and some even going so far as to call him the best player the club has had in years.
Erik ten Hag has already admitted that he hopes to have Amad feature in United’s first-team squad from next season, insisting that “we loan such players to let them develop and make progress, to bring them back”, and it is thought both he and fellow youngster Facundo Pellistri will be given a proper audition for regular football during the upcoming pre-season.
With testimonials like this, it’s surely worth seeing how he fares.
The last chapter of the the Amad Diallo loan spell tonight, one of the best players we’ve had in years. We’ve waited a long time to see a player like that grace the Stadium of Light again, the boy is special, maybe just maybe our best loan signing of all time. A joy to witness.
He went on the state that the club is “really strong on them in the matter of the way [they] mentor” and maintain regular “communication throughout the season… especially Darren Fletcher”, adding that the former United midfielder turned coach and current technical director “invests a lot in such processes and the aim is to bring them back as a better player and with better experience.”
As reported by Fabrizio Romano, United are already in talks to extend Pellistri’s contract even after only a handful of appearance and it looks increasingly likely that they will do the same with Amad, with the journalist insisting that he “dreams more than anyone” of being given a chance in the first-team.
United might still be missing an out-and-out striker in their forward line but it’s safe to say that their wide attacking options for next season look promising with Amad back at Old Trafford.
Featured Image — Sunderland (via Twitter)/Amad Diallo (via Instagram)
Sport
Rugby Football League to merge second and third divisions from next year
Danny Jones
The Rugby Football League (RFL) has officially announced that it will be combining the Championship and League One divisions next year as part of a larger restructuring.
Besides the push for phasing out automatic promotion and relegation with the top flight, these will be among the biggest changes in the RFL since the creation of the Super League.
Revealing their plans earlier this week, the rugby authority confirmed that the second and third-tier divisions will be merging, with the changes set to be implemented from 2026 onwards.
You can see the statement in full down below, which has been met with a mix of
Confirmed in a lengthier statement online this past Wednesday, 27 August, the update reads: “The RFL Board have confirmed that the Betfred Championship and League One competitions will be combined in a single division outside the Betfred Super League (BSL) in 2026.
“This follows the decision to expand Super League from 12 clubs to 14, subject to conditions – which was taken by the existing Super League clubs last month.
“A number of fixture formats are being developed following consultation with the Championship and League One clubs, but there will be no final announcement until after the number and identity of clubs in each of the two expanded competitions is confirmed, on Thursday, October 16.
“However, the reversion to a single division outside Super League means the Middle Eights that had been scheduled for the end of the 2025 season, as a means of determining promotion and relegation between Championship and League One, will no longer take place.”
It’s also worth noting that these changes will also see the proposed Super 8s end-of-season fixtures scrapped, as the 12 teams set to compete in the playoff-style tournament are obviously now being combined into one league moving forward.
The Super 8s competition that would involve the top four League One clubs and the bottom four Championship clubs has been abandoned by the Rugby Football League.
It is highly expected that the Championship and League One will merge into one big division of 21 teams next season… pic.twitter.com/WDkshjYTS2
As detailed in the latest communication from the RFL, the League One champions’ prize of £25,000, as well as the usual trophy and medals promised at the start of the season, are still up for grabs; the Championship Play-Offs will still also take place as scheduled.
The winners of the Betfred Championship Grand Final are to receive £100k and 0.25 club grading points.
Commenting on the impending overhaul, Rugby League Commercial Chair Nigel Wood OBE – who headed up the latest strategic review – said: “Following the decision of the Betfred Super League clubs that the elite competition should expand to 14 clubs in 2026, subject to conditions, this is a logical and equally exciting next step.
“The Championship and L1 clubs have been extensively consulted and were virtually unanimous that the two divisional structure for the part-time game wasn’t working as well as it ought, particularly League One – and it is a great credit to the Championship clubs that they recognised that position.”
Reiterating the belief that this is the best way to support and promote “historic and ambitious clubs” outside of the BSL, helping boost attendances, finances and hopefully future investment. It remains a touchy subject for some, though.
The RFL merging divisions may not yet even matter for some.
Speaking of clubs looking for further backing, questions remain over the vetting process for investors and the ‘fit and proper persons tests’ in both rugby and football, especially with the ongoing crisis at Salford Red Devils.
With all that being said, while everyone will have the chance to win the new Championship and perhaps Super League promotion, the likes of Salford are just trying to stay afloat.
Regardless, what do you make of the RFL merging the Championship and League, and do you think it’s the right step for the future of rugby league?
Ruben Amorim has explained why he refused to watch Man United’s penalty shootout against Grimsby
Danny Jones
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has explained the reason why he didn’t watch his team’s penalty shootout against Grimsby Town as they crashed out of the EFL Carabao Cup.
It was yet another night to forget for Man United as the Premier League outfit conceded the first two goals against the League Two side in a fixture that hadn’t been played since 1947.
Even a late comeback through new signing Bryan Mbuemo and Harry Maguire’s late header – an increasingly frequent scenario, it would seem – wasn’t enough to spare their blushes, as the Carabao‘s straight-to-penalties format meant that they couldn’t even rely on extra time.
You already know the rest, and if you were watching on telly, you will have seen head coach Ruben Amorim rocking back and forth as he refused to watch his squad’s spot-kicks. Like the rest of the game, it’s not gone down as a particularly great look.
Unbelievable that a Man Utd manager can’t bring himself to watch the penalties against Grimsby in the Carabao Cup. Where’s the leadership? Cunha got a high five from Onana before his pen… Just get on with it
While there were plenty at home who felt similar reluctance to watch the pens, many supporters have been left understandably frustrated by the Portuguese head coach’s behaviour, accusing him of a lack of leadership.
Admittedly, it doesn’t project great optics, especially given all the talk of ‘storms clearing’ and ‘good days coming’ spouted via club media in recent weeks and months.
However, the 40-year-old has at least given some reasoning for not watching his players take a total of 12 penalties, though we’ll leave it up to the fans.
Speaking to ITV in one of the few post-match interviews he conducted on Wednesday evening, Amorim said: “The penalty shootout was not important, if I’m there trying to see if we win the game, it doesn’t matter. The beginning of the game, during the game, that’s what mattered.
“If we win this game, it’s so unfair on these guys – the opponents. So today, the football was fair; congratulations to them. We move on to the next game, and then we have time to decide things.”
You see Amorim’s post-match interview with ITV in full right here:
"I think the players spoke really loudly about what they want today."
"I just want to apologise to our fans."
"Something has to change and you're not going to change 22 players again."
As you can see, he went on to explain that he was “not thinking about the penalties, to go to the next stage”, choosing instead to add that his side “spoke really loud about what they want today. It’s really clear, I think it’s really clear to everybody what happened today.”
Being probed further on the precise meaning of this turn of phrase, he told multiple reporters that “a good team can win anything”, suggesting instead that those he fielded were, in the end, merely a collection of players who failed to chime with each other.
Many would argue this has been a common theme not only since he joined the club, but for the last few managers who have taken charge at Old Trafford.
Besides that, he signed off by insisting that there was little he could say to soften the blow of the result, besides apologising to them directly and adding, “something has to change, and you’re not going to change 22 players again.”
Be it as a begrudging Red, an amused rival, or just a neutral, you can either hate-watch or simply study the shocking defeat on what was a historic night for some very happy Grimsby fans down below.
Amorim may not have wanted to sit through the penalty shootout, but MUFC weren’t great to watch in regulation time either.
Danny Jones -
22nd May 2023 
