Former Sunderland star shares how Amad Diallo bounced back from ‘pretty slow’ start to become ‘unstoppable’ force in memorable loan spell
Amad Diallo will always be remembered for his impressive time on loan at Sunderland, and one former teammate has reflected on how the Manchester United star developed on Wearside.
Sunderland have often had the pleasure of getting the best out of their loan stars over the years, but Amad Diallo is arguably one of the brightest to have temporarily graced the pitch at the Stadium of Light.
Now, he’s tearing it up at Manchester United and looks like a bona fide Premier League star. United fans didn’t always know what they had, but Sunderland supporters were vocal about Diallo’s quality from the get-go.
However, when he first arrived at Sunderland, Diallo’s initial impression didn’t exactly suggest he was destined for the top, but he changed that perception very quickly.
Amad Diallo’s first impression was completely different from the player he became
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News about his former teammate, one-time Sunderland man Corry Evans opened up about Diallo and how he appeared to be a shy and fragile player at first, but soon proved everyone wrong in training.
Evans said: “You wouldn’t think he’s strong, but then you get up close to him in training… He’s very wily and he uses his body really intelligently. That impressed me straight away.
“He was a bit shy and we were lucky because we had four or five French boys, so obviously he mingled with them straight away and that helped him settle in. Some of the stuff he was doing in training and then later on in games as the season went on, you could see his ability.”
It took a little time for Diallo to really find his feet, but clearly the project under Tony Mowbray was ideal for the youngster once he settled in.
