Amad Diallo has been the one unqualified success story of Manchester United’s turbulent season so far.
The tricky Ivorian has had to be patient for gametime at Old Trafford, but he is repaying the faith shown in him eventually by Erik ten Hag, then by Ruud van Nistelrooy and especially now by Ruben Amorim many times over.
The 22-year-old has scored three goals and assisted six times in 21 games in all competitions this season, but has only completed the full 90 minutes five times.
And in those five matches, all in the Premier League, he contributed all six of his assists with at least one coming in each game.
It’s left him top of United’s assisting charts, ahead of club captain and creative spark Bruno Fernandes, and joint third in the Premier League.
His six assists leave him equal with Cole Palmer, behind only Mo Salah on eight and Bukayo Saka on 10.
But in another metric, identified by Statman Dave, Amad ranks ahead of every winger in the league save for Saka.
Amad has 10 goal-creating actions having started just eight games, putting him ahead of the likes of Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
He ranks fourth overall, with creative midfielder James Maddison just ahead of him on 11, and is joined on 10 by Palmer, Enzo Fernandez and Mikkel Damsgaard.
In the Premier League this season, Bukayo Saka (21) is the only winger with more goal-creating actions than Amad (10). This is despite the #MUFC man having started just eight games in the competition so far.
The sky is the limit for him. 🌟 pic.twitter.com/31jR2Ydykk
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) December 9, 2024
As per FBref, a goal-creating action is defined as one or both of the two actions directly leading to a goal. These actions can include passes, take-ons and drawing fouls.
Viewed per 90 minutes his stats are finer still, with his score of 1.13 putting him ahead of everyone but Saka (1.64) and, conflictingly for United fans, Red Devils loanee Jadon Sancho (1.65).
It is, of course, easy to get carried away by stats and away from what’s happening in front of you on the pitch, but Amad is consistently a top performer for Amorim’s side.
Mostly deployed at right wing-back, the youngster is constantly looking to get forward and is one of the few men in red to get the crowd on their feet regardless of what’s happening elsewhere.
Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images
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Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
