Manchester United winger Amad Diallo will return to his old stomping ground, the Stadium of Light, this weekend to face former loan side Sunderland.
Amad Diallo will forever be a fan-favourite at Sunderland following his stunning loan spell with the Black Cats from Manchester United during the 2022/23 Championship campaign.
Under former Black Cats boss, veteran head coach Tony Mowbray, the young Ivorian proved to the footballing world for the first time exactly why the Red Devils shelled out a £37.2m to Serie A side Atalanta for his signature in 2021.
Following his arrival at Old Trafford, he failed to make an instant impact on first-team contention and subsequently endured a difficult loan spell at Scottish top flight giants Rangers, before eventually making his mark on Wearside.
Amad notched 14 goals and four assists in all competitions on loan at Sunderland, almost firing the Black Cats to promotion. Despite he and his team failing to reach the play-off final under Mowbray, who wished Amad well before the clash with an emotional message, his impact was unmistakable.
This weekend, the gifted winger will come back to the Stadium of Light for the first time since his loan stint, and current Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris has cheekily discussed the potential of a permanent return.
Regis Le Bris comments on potential Amad to Sunderland transfer
Since his outstanding loan stint at Sunderland, during which his technical ability and long-range strikes had the adoring Black Cats faithful cheering his name on a weekly basis, Amad has struggled to nail down a consistent string of starts for the Red Devils.
Earlier this season under former boss Ruben Amorim, the gifted winger was even shoehorned into playing an unfamiliar right-wing back role, which totally nullified his ample attacking talents.
His fortunes under interim manager Michael Carrick have failed to show signs of improvement, and given United’s £65m summer capture of right-winger Bryan Mbuemo, there are question marks over Amad’s long-term future at Old Trafford.
Therefore, the Sunderland supporters are desperate to see the Black Cats hierarchy finally bring the Ivorian back to Wearside permanently in the approaching summer transfer window.
Although tongue-in-cheek, Le Bris failed to pour cold water on the growing speculation ahead of Amad’s return this weekend.
As quoted by the Sunderland Echo, Le Bris said of Amad in his pre-match press conference: “Good winger - he's creative, excellent footballer, and with this ability to threaten the final third.
“So he has everything to be a strong winger. After that, the competition in Manchester United is high so he probably doesn't play as much as he would like to.
“If he wants to play with us, why not? We'll be happy! But probably not on Saturday.”
Amad would be an ideal signing for Sunderland
Over the course of the Premier League campaign, Sunderland boss Le Bris has failed to cement his favoured option at right-winger.
Several members of his Black Cats squad, including Chemsdine Talbi, Bertrand Traore, Chris Rigg, full-back Trai Hume and January signings Jocelin Ta Bi and Nilson Angulo have tried yet failed to make that imperative position their own.
Enter, Amad Diallo.
If Sunderland could manage to convince the winger to part ways with the Red Devils and return to the Stadium of Light, it would be an inspired move by the Black Cats’ recruitment team, given Le Bris' desperate nee for attacking impetus from the right wing.
Given the likely steep fee and wages involved in the move, from the outside looking in it would appear to be a difficult deal to complete, but the same disbelief was prevalent regarding Granit Xhaka’s arrival on Wearside.