Amad Diallo has already explained his stance on playing no.10 after Man United snub

Amad Diallo has already explained his stance on playing in the no.10 position after he was snubbed for Noussair Mazraoui during Manchester United’s draw against Fenerbahce.

Manchester United’s Europa League campaign continued with a 1-1 draw as they were held by Fenerbahce.

Christian Eriksen opened the scoring for United in the first half, delivering a spectacular strike from outside the box.

However, Fenerbahce quickly answered in the second half, with Youssef En-Nesyri overpowering Victor Lindelöf to head home from close range.

Amad Diallo entered the game in the 89th minute after replacing the injured Antony, who came on 15 minutes prior. Amad looked far from pleased after playing zero minutes in the previous two games.

What Amad Diallo said in the summer

Amad had an excellent pre-season tour, scoring twice while playing from the right-wing, and brought that form into the new Premier League season.

He won the club’s Player of the Month award in August but had a few under-par displays in September which led to Erik ten Hag demoting him while Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford took to the wings.

Many have suggested that the Ivorian could operate centrally, which could give him more opportunities to come into games while still allowing the wingers to remain.

This was why there were frustrations to see Noussair Mazraoui operating in the no.10 in Bruno Fernandes’ absence on Thursday.

But can Amad actually operate in that position? Well, he believes so. In fact, the 22-year-old has explained that it was his first position in Italy and one that he is comfortable in.

“My first position was number 10 when I was at Atalanta after that they put me on the right-wing,” he said in a press conference in the summer.

“I can play number 10, I can play right, I can play left so I can play everywhere in the forward [line].”

The playmaker is clearly comfortable in those central areas. He excelled in a false-nine position against Wolves in the 2020/21 season.

But if the manager is opting for a right-back ahead of him when Fernandes is not available, it doesn’t seem likely that he will get the chance to play there under Ten Hag.

Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is released every Wednesday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.