One of the most exciting signings of the summer transfer window, at least as far as Manchester United fans are concerned, was essentially delayed until this January.
The Red Devils agreed on a deal with Atalanta to bring 18-year-old Amad Diallo to Old Trafford in January for a fee that could rise to as high as €41 million with add-ons.
This represents a significant outlay on a player who has only played 59 minutes in his senior career; therefore, United fans should not expect him to slot in straightaway into the lineup.
However, alongside fellow 18-year-old Facundo Pellistri, who was also recruited during this summer window, Diallo could be a long-term solution to the problematic right-wing position.
The Ivorian was definitely one of the hottest prospects in Atalanta’s academy, and several European clubs were monitoring his progress.
Manchester United have stolen a march on them in that regard, but now comes the difficult task of helping him integrate and realise his potential.
This Amad Diallo scouting report will attempt to dissect Amad Diallo’s style of play, strengths, and weaknesses to help Red Devils fans know what to expect from the promising winger.
Amad Diallo Profile
Diallo is a left-footed player who has predominantly featured on the right flank, as his heatmap shows.
Amad Diallo Heat Map
The Ivorian´s predominant move in his career so far is to cut inside, as shown above.
Nevertheless, Diallo seems comfortable enough on his right foot, which raises the prospect of him going outside the full-back to deliver a cross as well.
It must be remembered that Amad has primarily played in a 3-4-3 formation at Atalanta, where the wingbacks provided width, freeing him up to move inside.
That may not be the case at Manchester, especially with Aaron Wan-Bissaka as the right-back.
So it is crucial that Diallo develops the ability to hold the width on the right and come infield when an opportunity presents itself.
When looking at his career statistics so far, it is important to note that most of this is in age-group football.
As mentioned previously, the left-footed winger only played 59 minutes of senior football in his career.
Thus, these numbers should not be taken as an indication of how good or bad he is at something but rather as a way to identify traits, as well as strong and weak areas.
As with any 18-year-old, Diallo still has some physical and mental growth to do, which will change his output on the field.
Amad Diallo Dribble
What immediately stands out when looking at Amad Diallo’s style of play is his incredible dribbling ability.
So far, the Ivorian has attempted 9.01 dribbles/90 minutes, with a 54.25% success rate.
Both of these stats are incredible, and while he is unlikely to maintain this when he starts featuring regularly for Manchester United, it still indicates that Amad is very good at beating defenders 1v1.
This is important since the Red Devils have lacked a dynamic attacking presence on the right for some time now.
This has led to most of Manchester United's attacking play being focused down the left rather than the right flank.
Knowing this, opponents can adjust their defensive strategies accordingly, leaving United’s right flank relatively open and safe, knowing that dangerous attacks are unlikely to develop down that side.
Of course, we must once again state that Diallo is nowhere near ready to start making a difference for United.
Still, his underlying characteristics make him a promising player if Manchester can harness those strengths adequately.
Amad Diallo Goal Involvement
The Ivorian is averaging 0.73 goal involvements (goals + assists) per 90 minutes thus far, which is another healthy indicator.
His 14 goals have come against an expected goals (xG) value of 13.07, suggesting that he is a reliable finisher.
He has notched 11 assists against an expected assist (xA) value of 11.64, which indicates that his teammates have generally taken the chances he has laid on for them
This could be due to the quality of the chance itself and his teammates’ finishing ability.
Nevertheless, these are encouraging signs for United, as they suggest that Amad Diallo can be a player capable of scoring and creating in almost equal measure.
Amad Diallo Crosses
Another data that can help us understand his playing profile is the number of crosses he makes per 90 minutes.
Diallo has averaged just 1.59 crosses/90, albeit at an impressive success rate of 42.6%.
This may be due to the aforementioned fact that Atalanta’s wing-backs need to provide width.
Therefore, the inside forwards/wingers in their 3-4-3 system usually play inside and closer to the striker, which does not often put them in attacking positions.
Add to this the fact that Diallo is a left-footed player playing on the right, with the natural tendency to cut inside, and it is not so much of a surprise.
It will be interesting to see how Amad develops in this area at Manchester United since he will need to stay much wider than he did at Atalanta, even if he will not necessarily need to play as an out-and-out winger.
Amad Diallo Inside-the-box
Diallo has averaged 5.7 touches in the box per 90 minutes while making 3.95 progressive runs per 90 minutes—both of which are decent markers for a player of his age and profile.
The Ivorian talent also makes 4.27 passes to the penalty area per 90 minutes.
All of these metrics show his threat in the opposition box, combined with his average of 3.48 shots per 90 at a 39.8% success rate.
Amad could perhaps improve his shot numbers and get into the box a little more, but those are all facets that can be worked on on the training ground.
These are impressive numbers for an 18-year-old, even accounting for the fact that they are from age-group football.
Amad Diallo Defense
Regarding his defensive output, Diallo has been making 2.12 interceptions per 90, while also adding 4.48 recoveries per 90.
These show that he is a willing worker off the ball.
Interestingly, nearly 59% of those recoveries occurred in the opposition half.
This shows that the promising winger could be effective as part of a high press.
Amad also gets into 6.89 defensive duels on average per 90, with a 58.6% success rate.
These numbers show that the Ivorian does not shy away from work off the ball, and despite not being the most physically imposing player, he can win the ball back fairly regularly.
Overall, these statistics paint a picture of a heavily involved player on and off the ball.
Diallo's clear strength is dribbling with the ball at pace, but he is also diligent off the ball.
There are areas for the promising left-footed to work on and improve, but that would be true of any 18-year-old, and there is a very good solid base for United to work on at the moment.
Amad Diallo Major Strenght
As we have already stated, one of Diallo’s great strengths is his dribbling ability.
The Ivorian can accelerate from a standing start to leave opponents trailing and make runs from deep with the ball, bypassing multiple players on the run.
His close control and technique allow him to move his feet quickly and manipulate the ball to create space for himself.
This ability also attracts opposition players, opening up space for teammates.
We'll now examine Amad Diallo's style of play using some examples from his games at Atalanta.
Carrying The Ball From Deep
When playing for the Atalanta U-19 at Youth League, Amad Diallo often dropped deep to pick up the ball before either running at defenders or passing it out wide to create a different angle of attack.
An Olympique Lyon U-19 player rushes out to challenge him, but Diallo simply knocks the ball past him and runs around him, into space and centrally…
Amad then passes the ball to a teammate and continues his run off the ball towards the penalty area.
This is just one example of his incredible ball-carrying ability, which allows him to rapidly move his team upfield in possession and counterattack.
It can be easy to see how he can fit in at United in this respect .
Over the past couple of seasons, the Red Devils have been one of the most potent counter-attacking teams in England.
Diallo will add another rapid attacker to the mix.
Drawing Fouls
His dribbling also causes opponents to resort to fouls to stop him, which can then be used to his team’s advantage.
In this regard, he is pretty similar to Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish.
It will be interesting to see how opposition defences try to stop him once he establishes himself in Manchester United’s lineup.
The Ivorian’s quick feet make it very difficult for opponents to track him and anticipate his next move.
Amad Diallo 1v1 Ability
The promising left-footed winger is also proficient on his right foot, meaning that it is not as simple as closing down options on his left foot for opponents to shut him down.
In a Champions League game against Midtjylland, Diallo was brought on to play on the left flank.
As we see in Figure 5, his feint leaves the Midtylland defender completely bamboozled.
Notice the defender’s body weight and positioning – he expects Amad to go on his left foot, but the Ivorian comes inside onto his right.
Tight Space Ability & Decision-making
Amad’s proficiency in tight spaces means that opponents are attracted to him to win the ball back, which opens up space for his teammates or even for himself if he can execute quick passes and get away from those markers.
Figure 7 means that in this kind of situation Atalanta´s right wing-back can overlap Amad Diallo into space.
At the same time, Amad uses this situation to play a quick wall pass to the striker and run onto the ball into a dangerous central position, where he is in space.
These are just a few isolated examples of Diallo’s ability in 1v1 situations and in carrying the ball from deep.
This is undoubtedly one of the strengths in his game, and it should stand him in good stead at Old Trafford.
Amad Diallo Movements
The Ivorian youngster is also an intelligent footballer, and Gian Piero Gasperini´s desire to keep him in Bergamo until the end of this season is a testament to how highly rated he is.
It is not easy to play in Gasperini’s formation at Atalanta, with constant positional rotation, interchanging, and movement off the ball the order of the day.
Amad impressed the Italian manager whenever he played for the senior side.
Diallo’s remit was usually to come infield and play in the half-spaces from his right-sided berth since the Atalanta wing-back would occupy the wide space outside him.
Being left-footed, this did suit him, although he is not as one-dimensional as that.
Running Out Wide Behind The Opposing Full-back
He often went outside his opposing full-back to cross or pass to the edge of the area.
Here is an example of that sort of movement.
Playing for Atalanta BC against Hellas Verona in Serie A, Diallo initially stayed out wide while the right wing-back, Hans Hateboer, came infield from wingback.
The duo was extremely fluid.
The Ivorian also drags a defender with him, creating more space for the wing-back.
Dropping Deep, Pass & Unmark
We have already seen how Diallo used to drop deeper from his wide position, but this was not always to run with the ball at his feet.
Given his speed and agility, the 18-year-old would often play a quick pass to a teammate before spinning in behind into the space he had just vacated, leaving his marker behind and potentially getting into dangerous areas.
The move develops down the opposite flank, but it is interesting to note that Diallo has managed to get well away from the player coming in to mark him
This is a testament to his speed and intelligence.
Finding Space Between The Lines To Receive The Ball
The Ivorian also drifts into central areas when there is space to do so, making himself available as an option between the lines.
Amad movement is intelligent and in tune with what his side needs at every phase of possession.
Again, there are areas to improve, but it is a very solid foundation upon which to build.
Amad Diallo Passing Ability
Like most 18-year-old wingers, Diallo is not what you would call a ‘creative’ passer.
His strengths are dribbling, running, and movement off the ball, but he can also do the basics well, such as keeping possession and spreading play when needed.
Amad can pick out targets in the box with precise, low crosses, although he has not needed to develop his high, aerial crossing ability too much yet—something that may need to change in the Premier League.
Non-dominant Foot Crosses
Nevertheless, the fact that the Ivorian can get down the line and cross accurately with his right foot, despite being left-footed, is a promising sign.
Here, Diallo burst into the box and was then able to put the ball on a plate so his striker could tap into an empty net at the back post.
Here's another example from the same game: Diallo is a little wider but once again able to deliver an accurate cross along the ground to a striker in the box with his right foot.
Shifting Play To The Opposite Wing
As stated earlier, Amad can also spread play out to the left after coming in off the right, with his left foot to open up that side of the pitch.
Amad Diallo Defense-splitting Passes
It is also important to note how Diallo’s wide positioning draws the defenders out and creates space for the run and the pass.
The Ivorian is no Kevin de Bruyne or Bruno Fernandes in his ability to play defence-splitting passes.
However, the winger can find teammates when under pressure himself, while he also has the vision to pick out options on the far side of the pitch.
Amad´s ability to pass with either foot is also a valuable trait.
It ensures that he has multiple options when on the ball and leaves defenders guessing as to his next move.
Conclusion
Amad Diallo is an extremely talented 18-year-old but still quite raw and untested at the highest level.
We must reiterate that the Ivorian has not even played an hour of senior football yet, so he will need quite some time to get acclimatised to England and the level of the Premier League before we can expect any sort of impact from him.
Nevertheless, he is an extremely exciting signing.
The left-footed winger has a strong set of attributes that should make him well-suited to the league once he has adapted physically and tactically.
United fans should look forward to a dynamic, creative, quick and intelligent attacker joining the ranks, but patience will be needed for him to develop.
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