Erik ten Hag warned that Man United starlet will make ‘big money’ La Liga move if teammate isn’t dropped

Manchester United have been warned by former Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray that Amad Diallo won’t settle for a squad role at Old Trafford and predicts a ‘big money’ move to La Liga if he isn’t afforded minutes.

The Reds signed Amad in the summer of 2020, with the player not arriving at the club until the following January window.

Coming from Atalanta, Amad had a reputation as one of the most exciting teenagers in European football. Yet, he made his first appearance for United in around two years last week against Nottingham Forest.

Injuries and loan moves to both Rangers and Sunderland have meant his Old Trafford career hasn’t kickstarted like he would’ve wanted, but the 21-year-old now has the opportunity to take advantage of a weakness in Erik ten Hag’s squad.

He only has one other right winger in the squad to compete with, and Antony is in horrid form, having scored just once in 2023 despite having the third-most appearances of any United player.

Amad showed his talents and ability during his season-long stint with Sunderland last term when he propelled Tony Mowbray’s side to the playoffs with 14 goals and four assists.

Towards the tail-end of that season, Mowbray, who has since been sacked by the Championship club, explained how he sees Amad’s future if he’s not awarded those chances at Old Trafford.

“I have a good feeling for Amad that if he’s not back at United, he will go for big, big money to a top Spanish team,” Mowbray told The Mirror. “He loves football and wants to play so what do you do if you are at Manchester United?

“Are you happy just to be a Manchester United player and play six sub appearances and two starts over a season of 60 games for them? Or do you want to go out and play? So are they going to sell him?

“If they do, they will want to recoup their money which was reputedly 40m euros or whatever it was. The reality is he won’t be coming here, in my mind, unless they think he is going to be one hell of a player and needs to play, or he enjoys Sunderland and should keep going to play for them.

“That would be the ideal scenario for us. Pretty unlikely I would suggest, but you never know because if they see him as genuinely someone who can play in their first team down the line they could keep him on board.

“I would suggest they would try him at another level, and he’d go [on loan] to the Premier League, or go back to Italy or Serie A or Spain. But let’s hope he is playing at Sunderland and banging in goals. There is a better chance if we are in the Premier League, he is playing against Premier League teams.”

Following Amad’s return to the side at the City Ground, many United fans have called for him to start ahead of Antony.