Amad Diallo makes his feelings clear on working under Ruben Amorim at Man Utd and it speaks volumes

Amad Diallo gave his take on incoming manager Ruben Amorim after he produced a game-winning performance for Manchester United in their Europa League clash against PAOK – and it speaks volumes.

The 22-year-old was handed a well-earned start by interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy as United searched for their first Europa League victory of the 2024/25 campaign.

After being named the club's Player of the Month in August, Amad was used sparingly by Erik ten Hag in the final weeks of his reign, with Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho being preferred in wide areas.

Many have called for the Ivorian winger to get his call-up and on Thursday night, he produced the goods. Shortly after the interval, Amad peeled away at the back post to meet a looping cross from Bruno Fernandes before firing past Dominik Kotarski with a neat header.

And in the 70th minute, he grabbed his second with a wonderful curling effort.

Amad Diallo scores to make it 2-0. Image credit: Getty

Amad was United's best performer on Thursday night. Image credit: Getty

After the full-time whistle, interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy opened up on Amad’s professionalism after a relatively frustrating period in regards to game time.

“Yes, he’s a great character, a hard worker, he shows it in every training session," Van Nistelrooy said. “So that attitude and also extra work. Every day after training he comes to me and he wants to do extra finishing, extra crossing, extra one-vs-ones, extra how can I improve my shot, how can I improve my heading.

“He’s constantly focused on learning, getting better, living a very professional way so he’s very motivated to get the maximum out of his career. After so many games he didn’t start but he had a great performance today, so very pleased for him.”

Van Nistelrooy added: “I think the second goal had everything in it. That for me is Amad Diallo. He fought to take the ball off the PAOK defender and then he pushed through to get the shot and in the end he had the quality to bend it around the goalkeeper. So that sums him up.”

Amad impressed many onlookers on Thursday as United walked away with all three points, but what about Ruben Amorim? In his post-match interview, he was asked to give his thoughts on the new manager.

“I can’t wait to work with him," he said, as quoted by Fabrizio Romano. "I’m very happy to have Amorim as the new coach."

Van Nistelrooy was prodded on whether Amad felt energised after being overlooked by Ten Hag in recent weeks.

“Apparently so because I think he was excellent," the Dutchman added. “In the first half he was our best player. Already he looked sharp, he did well, second half he decided the game for us with two important goals, so he did excellent.”

Do you think Amad should feature more often for United? Let us know in the comments.