Sunderland did all they could to bring Amad Diallo back to Wearside during the January transfer window but Manchester United never made the £19 million winger available for transfer.
The next few months will show us whether Amad Diallo may have been better off embarking upon another short-term loan move after all.
Despite a stand-out performance off the bench against Nottingham Forest in December, that remains Amad’s only Manchester United appearance since returning from a long-term injury.
And while the scintillating form of Alejandro Garnacho since shifting from the left to the right is obviously a pretty big reason behind the Ivorian’s lack of game time, it is far more difficult to justify Erik ten Hag’s preference for the wildly-underperforming Antony, Diallo left on the bench as the Brazilian stumbled his way through that FA Cup victory over fourth-tier Newport County.
Manchester United opted to keep Amad Diallo
Sunderland director Kristjaan Speakman had made no secret of his desire to bring Diallo back to the Stadium of Light, the £19 million signing from Atalanta a revelation during his 2022/23 loan spell in the North East.
Man United opted to farm out Facundo Pellistri instead, however, with Diallo staying put at Old Trafford until the summer.
“Amad would have been one of those three or four targets (that we were working on),” Speakman tells Sunderland Nation. “But there are factors we have no control over.
“I think you’ve seen in terms of the market over the January window, it’s been a fairly dormant market. There’s not been as many transactions. And, ultimately, then you’re waiting on player availability most of the time, whether that’s on a permanent basis or a loan basis.
“It ran its course. He wasn’t available.”
Sunderland tried to bring Amad back
HITC Football understands that there was also interest from Leicester City in the 21-year-old. Diallo’s future is likely to come into question again when the window opens in the summer, should he remain United’s third choice right-winger behind the ever-improving Garnacho and the ever-declining Antony.
“He’s not turned up anywhere else. We stayed in (the race) for as long as we possibly could,” Speakman adds. “In hindsight, you could say that was to the detriment of maybe signing another player earlier on.
“But we felt that was a choice we had to make and we were comfortable with that choice.”
Pellistri, now at Granada in La Liga, is one of over 10 players who left United on loan in January. Jadon Sancho, Donny Van de Beek, Hannibal Mejbri and co also departed.
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