Manchester United considering loan for Amad Diallo as club set to make decision before Christmas

Amad Diallo is struggling to make an impact for Manchester United and coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has admitted the youngster may have to go on loan to get some game time.

United signed Diallo last October from Atalanta for a reported initial fee of £19million plus an additional £18million in add-ons before bringing him to the club in January.

He is yet to make a senior start for the Red Devils, however, playing 96 minutes of football last season in the Europa League and FA Cup and then not featuring at all this season, not even in the Carabao Cup. 

Amad Diallo has struggled for first team action since joining Manchester United last year

Coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said the club are considering sending Diallo out on loan

Diallo has little hope of getting much game time this season due to the fierce competition for places across United’s attack and a loan move looks like his best chance of getting the action he needs to continue to develop.

‘We have to decide before Christmas if Diallo will be able to play enough here, or if he will go somewhere else,’ Solskjaer told a press conference before United’s Champions League game at home to Atalanta.

Diallo came through Atalanta’s academy and made his debut in the first team in October 2019 but never made a start in a competitive game.

Diallo scored a classy goal against AC Milan last season but still hasn’t started a game

He impressed in the few glimpses United got of him last season, scoring a brilliant backwards header against AC Milan in a Europa League last-16 first leg.

But he has fallen even further down the pecking order for Solskjaer since the arrival of Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo this summer plus Jesse Lingard returning on loan from West Ham.

And he faced an injury setback early in the season, straining a thigh muscle in September which put him out of action for around six weeks. 

He will not feature against Atalanta on Wednesday but the youngster warned United not to underestimate his former side, who have turned into one of Serie A’s top sides under coach Gian Piero Gasperini.

‘If you underestimate Atalanta, you are making a huge mistake,’  he told United’s official club website. 

Diallo, who joined United for £37million from the Italian club in January, has hailed his old team

‘They have got a great coach, a great team and they have got good fans.  They press high, they don’t let you play and they put you in difficulty.

‘The wingers, [Robin] Gosens and [Ruslan] Malinovsky, are strengths of theirs, they will give you a difficult game.

‘Even when they don’t have the ball, they will run a lot, especially those two. If you lose the ball, then you’re in trouble because they run so much and they’ll get it.’