36-year-old goalkeeper Joe Lewis spent the last six months of the previous season training with Manchester United at Carrington.
Lewis was witness to arguably the most turbulent and uncertain time at Manchester United as Erik ten Hag and his coaching staff huffed and puffed to arrest the team’s slide down the table.
Injuries were taking over, the team was conceding shots for fun, and the noise over the manager’s future was deafening.
Amidst all the chaos, Lewis got the chance to be with the Man United squad up close and personal and he has now spilled the beans, including naming the player who surprised him in training with his quality.
Joe Lewis on standout Manchester United player
Lewis spoke to Manchester Evening News to talk about the atmosphere at Carrington last season when he was there to work on his match fitness.
He initially joined the academy training group but was soon training with the first team after proving his physical and technical fitness.
In the interview, he spoke about the high standards of training at United but even among those high standards, there was a player who stood out in ‘every single training session’.
Fans would not be surprised to see that name being Amad, whose breakthrough last season was halted by injuries but could only be delayed, not stopped.
Lewis said: “Rashford was great and a few people surprise you, like Amad, who stands out in training every single session – he really puts a shift in, works hard and you can’t get the ball off him.”
Amad started to come into his own late last season, with the FA Cup goal against Liverpool to seal the 3-4 win a standout moment.
Since then, he hasn’t looked back and after starting this year’s pre-season like a man possessed, has carried that form into the competitive fixtures.
Amad is an all-in gamble that worked
As Facundo Pellistri moves closer to the exit door at United, it is worth remembering that Amad and the Uruguayan’s arrivals were closely linked in 2020.
United had infamously missed out on Jadon Sancho so, in true panic Ed Woodward fashion, splurged the cash of two raw wingers with barely any first-team experience.
They both looked at one point like distressed assets as they stumbled on unsuccessful loan spells but Amad bounced back in fine fashion.
He leveraged his good season on loan at Sunderland to now become a first-team fixture ahead of £85 million Antony, while Pellistri is moving to Greece after multiple failed loans.
The fact that Amad has worked out, mainly due to the player’s own talent and determination to succeed rather than any coherent long-term plan by the previous regime, speaks volumes about the all-in gamble that the previous regime used to make all the time without any thinking.
Amad worked out, but it’s not a strategy that should be repeated by Ineos. They only need to look at Pellistri’s career to see the other side of it.
Instead, signing youngsters on palatable fees with a proper development project in mind should be the priority, as is the case with the transfer of Chido Obi-Martin.
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