Potentially, Rooney was the white Pelé too.
16
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 8
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 0
- Status
Amad came to Italy few months before his country was hit by civil war. Despite being an African migrant (and yes there's stigma on that in certain parts of Italy) and of short stature his rise to prominence was anything short of stellar ending up top scorer in a tournament were he was the youngest player in it. He then joined one of the most talented youth academies in Italy and he became their best player at youth level. His stats at U17 level were unreal. He scored 23 goals and 6 assists in 41 games. At Primavera level he scored 13 goals in 43 matches. That's amazing for a winger. He also scored in his first team debut becoming one of the youngest Serie A top scorers ever. That all happened while he was risking a hefty ban from football because of immigration issues.
So we bought a kid who had already moved abroad and doing well despite being a hostile environment. He's also used to thrive despite playing against players who are older, physically bigger and stronger then he is. Also there's no doubt that he's got talent. Papu Gomez said that the only way to stop Diallo was to foul him. Papu is Atalanta's captain so I presume we're talking about first team level here.
Amad is not in a different situation to what Jadon was when he moved to Dortmund. So seriously, people need to back off a bit.
So we bought a kid who had already moved abroad and doing well despite being a hostile environment. He's also used to thrive despite playing against players who are older, physically bigger and stronger then he is. Also there's no doubt that he's got talent. Papu Gomez said that the only way to stop Diallo was to foul him. Papu is Atalanta's captain so I presume we're talking about first team level here.
Amad is not in a different situation to what Jadon was when he moved to Dortmund. So seriously, people need to back off a bit.
Last edited:
Rashford will be lucky if he becomes half the player Rooney was. Don't take me wrong, Rashy is good. However Greenwood is special. There's not many 18 year olds who can score so many goals at age 18 while playing at the flanks (and out of position).
Diallo is miles better to James talent wise. However I agree that he'll need a bit of time to adapt to the country and its football. He'll also need to convince Ole to give him a run as well.
Do we know if Amad speaks any English, @devilish or anyone? I'd imagine he's been taking lessons at least since the transfer was finalized.
I don't disagree, just saying that "potentially" can mean everything and nothing at the same time. He has the tools to become a better player than Rashford without a doubt, right now though, he just isn't.
I don't know. However I won't be surprised if he does know how to speak in English. Italian schools had been teaching the English language for quite some time now and Amad had moved there at age 8.
We also need to acknowledge the fact that not everyone uses the EPL's way of developing kids. United for example like to keep the most promising kids close so they can guarantee them as much gameplay as possible. The Serie A is different. Kids are expected to work for their shirt and the most popular way to do that is to be sent on loan. In many ways they are lucky that most clubs at the lower end of the league table work on a shoe string budget.
Up until United showed up, Diallo had been given the best football education Italy can provide. Atalanta have the best youth academy in Italy and he was set to be loaned to Parma ie a very youth friendly club who had developed/polished many young talent in the past. The latter is one of the very few clubs who got the nod by Sir Alex Ferguson himself. In fact he loaned them Giuseppe Rossi.
We're signing a kid whose beaten the odds many many times from coming to Italy, doing well in the best youth academy there and thriving against players who tend to be older and more experienced then him. The way Papu Gomez describes him fill me with hope as well. Argentinians tend not to throw comparisons with Messi out of Lulz especially if the kid in question isn't even an Argentinian himself.
If I was a United player I wouldn't take this kid lightly. The guy had stared at true poverty and had thrived in a hostile environment. He will do anything within his power to make it work.
Last edited:
He certainly had a better season last season to Rashford and that despite the lack of experience and him being younger.
Honestly the people wanting a kid so young in the first 11 straight away are living in a fantasy land.
Surely let him settle before putting pressure on him? Greenwood is young but actually has pretty prolific stats and has been at our club years.
I have no clue how good Diallo is. Everyone who thinks they know is talking absolute garbage based off a couple of games and a few training videos.
Can he track back? Can he communicate with his teammates at first when he gets here? Does he have an end product in a team like ours? Will he find a niche in our side? Nobody knows
Pique and Pogba both left at an early age too so not every wonderkid works out. Anderson especially looked great at 18 but you can never guarantee a thing.
I don't think he did, you're really forgetting how Rashford carried our team for periods to the point of breaking himself. The future belongs to Greenwood if he doesn't turn into a moron before.
Well said, there have been too much more experienced and more talented players than him who utterly failed at Utd for us to be cautious and patient with any new signing.
Quaresma was allegedly more talented than Ronaldo as kids. But I know who utilised what they had better.
I’m excited with our new purchase, but I can see lots of people getting carried away with praise. He’s a prospect, nothing more, nothing less. He’s got a long way to go to put himself above some experienced international players at United. I see lots of people forgetting he’s in direct competition with Greenwood, who’ll not want to just give up his spot starting 11.
Haven't we paid over 30 million for this kid?
I don't see us spending 30 million on a lad to put him straight into the under 21's. You've got to also say this must be final nail in the Daniel James coffin.
I don't see us spending 30 million on a lad to put him straight into the under 21's. You've got to also say this must be final nail in the Daniel James coffin.
I guess it will be nice to see a player on the wing whose job it is to be there.
This is spot on. Temperament wise, he still has a way to go. Rashford has a level head on his shoulders.
He will be on the bench very soon. Guess 10 games through the season he will play.
Is the work permit issue sorted? It sounded like it was going to be problematic with Brexit
I think you should check the meaning of potential
But that's lazy journalism/football hype BS isn't it? The same BS that stated that Anderson reminded people of Rivaldo, that there's a horde of Italian/Argentinian players who are the new Maldini/Maradona or that Nicky Butt was the best player in the world cup of 2002. Quaresema was very talented. However there's a reason why he moved to Barcelona for 6m and Ronaldo moved to us for 12m. He was inconsistent, he lacked Ronaldo's crystalline talent and his workrate.
No one knows how will talent develop. Some things aren't in the player's hands either. God forbid he might pick a frigging injury that will ruin him. It's said that the best player of 92 was ruined before he made a name of himself. This was not said by some journalist who think that Brazilian with dreadlocks are world class dribblers but by the likes of Harrison, Sir Alex and Scholes who were pretty much involved in that period.
What we can discuss though is the present. Diallo has moved as a migrant at age 8. Those who knew him said that all the family owned were the clothes they had on them. He started football in an increasingly migrant hostile country whose not exactly youth talent friendly and who already had their fingers burnt by another black player/prodigy ie Balotelli. Diallo kept his head down and he constantly humiliated his teammates and his opponents despite
a- being of small stature
b- having to play against older opponents
c- having to adapt to different roles
d- playing at the Italian's Ferrari version of youth academy
e- having to face the risk of being banned for 6 months because of immigration problems
I don't think that Greenwood's career is at risk here. The boy is a natural. He'll do well as STK or even LW as much as he did as RW. In fact Greenwood's only enemy is himself really. If he remains focused then barring any injuries he'll make it to the very top.
The ones who should be sweating are those who are inconsistent. We've got too many players who seem to have settled to this 2 good games 3 meah games notion ie players who either do not seem to like sweating too much or they have their sights on many things rather then football. That can be dangerous when the likes of Pellistri, Greenwood and Diallo are coming through especially if United's obsession for Jadon or/and Haaland isn't abated. Maybe Martial and Mr MBE can have a chat or two with former English international and United's first teamer Lee Sharpe. He knows a thing or two how a young and determined 18 year old can pull the rug on someone's career.
Last edited:
I believe he did. What Greenwood did was extraordinary. Don't forget his age and the fact that he was playing out of position.
Regarding your second comment, as said before, Greenwood biggest enemy is himself. Apart from injury that's the only obstacle he's got to beat to become a WC player.
Of course we will. The fee is not important in the slightest. We paid 10m+ for Pellestri and he's started in the reserves too.
They'll assess Amad and if they think he's ready i'm sure he will get a chance. I suspect though being only 18 in a new country they'll ease him in gently.
I've said what I said, more of it would be pointless
Sorry to weigh in here but Greenwood's age and playing position have feck all to do with whether Rashford was better or worse than him last season. Rashford played better, therefore he had a better season, age and playing position show me that Greenwood is one of the biggest talents around but nothing more than that.
People thought I was the greatest, until they met Diallo. --Messi Lingard
I beg to differ. I think that Greenwood was as important and he did it in a role that Rashford failed miserably in. Don’t forget that neither Rashford nor Greenwood are RW
Messi wasn't the best Argentinian player let alone the world greatest
Think you may need to read that post again
Diallo will be a great signing but we still need an established RW. I think we will be back in for Sancho next summer.
I’m not one to get ahead of myself, but I think he’ll be the best player in Europe by the summer.
Ok my mistake
Think that ship has sailed unless they get real with the price, 60 million or thereabouts.
With the way he's performed so far this season they'd be lucky to even get that. Dortmund must be really kicking themselves for being so greedy
Not to turn it another Sancho discussion, since we’ve all had our fill and more, but new manager and possibly missing out on top 4 for Dortmund may help us. Also the new manager admitted Sancho’s head was turned with our interest. He’s not playing at the same level as last year.
He definitely wasn't. At no point last season was Greenwood our go to guy. That fell to Rashford, Martial and Bruno. He's possibly our biggest talent and was fantastic at times last season but he didn't have the same impact as Rashford.
And the biggest waste of money by the Fall.
Beautifully put. Thanks mate for detailed info. Just a small question here, you said, loaning players to relatively smaller club is a thing in Italy.... is it to get a better value of a player or they genuinely want to develop a player. I mean Atalanta have sold one of their prodigies last season as well who was also sent on loan
The loan system is usually used to further develop kids. However if a big bid comes for a player then they'll probably sell him up. 35m-40m is big money for a club like Atalanta.
Fixed
Lots of interesting background details. Thanks for sharing
Is the work permit issue sorted then and when does he actually arrive? 
Nobody knows. January at some point you'd expect.Is the work permit issue sorted then and when does he actually arrive?
I assume we will apply in January when the window is open and hopefully it'll all go smoothly.
- Status