Amad Diallo officially joins Manchester United, assigned squad number

It seems that Amad Diallo has been “signed” multiple times by Manchester United since his transfer was agreed in October, but with everything signed and his passport secured this week, Diallo is now officially a Red Devil.

The young Ivory Coast winger has been called “one of the most exciting young prospects in the game” and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: “As a club, we have followed Amad for a number of years and having watched him myself, I believe he is one of the most exciting young prospects in the game.

“Manchester United has such a proud history of developing young players and everything is in place to enable Amad to reach his potential here.

“It will take time for him to adapt but his speed, vision and fantastic dribbling ability will stand him in good stead to make the transition. He is a player with all of the raw attributes that are needed to be an important player for Manchester United in the years to come.”

Diallo, signed for £37.2m, has made only two appearances as a substitute for Atalanta this season — once in the Champions League against FC Midtjylland, and on one occasion in Serie A versus Hellas Verona.

Diallo has featured in just four league games for Atalanta, but the player has impressed in training, so much so that Atalanta captain Papu Gomez recently likened him to Lionel Messi.

“There are defenders in the first team that sometimes cannot stop him. To stop him in training, we have to kick him! He plays like Messi.”

Diallo has been assigned the number 19 jersey, previously worn by several United legends (notably Dwight Yorke, Nicky Butt, and Marcus Rashford) and will also have his first name, ‘Amad,’ displayed on the back of his shirt.