If we were to say that the most outstanding player in Manchester United's attack this season, it would be none other than Amad Diallo, who successfully renewed his contract with the club for a period of 5 and a half years on the 10th.
At 4 am Beijing time on January 17th, in the 21st round of the Premier League in the 24-25 season, Manchester United hosted Southampton at home. Amad staged a 12-minute hat-trick in the closing stages, helping the team turn the game around from 0-1 to 3-1, becoming the first since Cristiano Ronaldo.
It is hard to imagine that this young key player from Côte d'Ivoire was ranked lower than Anthony under Ten Hag!
In this match at Old Trafford, Manchester United did not show the fiery form they should have had at home after the opening. Especially between the 20th and 30th minutes, there were significant problems with Manchester United's midfield control, with a possession rate of only 30%.
The popular English talent Dibrin and Ghanaian winger Sulimana did indeed pose a considerable threat to Manchester United's defense, although both were able to approach the opponent's goal on their own, they were not particularly adept at scoring, hence Southampton missed several scoring opportunities in succession.
In the 43rd minute of the game, Southampton gained a corner kick opportunity on the left side, Dibrin's header brushed the ball, which then hit Ugart and rebounded into the net, an own goal! Manchester United trailed 0-1 at home!
Who could have thought that Manchester United would not have the upper hand in the first half, and it seemed that Southampton, currently at the bottom of the league with only 6 points, was the stronger side. In the face of the adversity of falling behind due to the team's slow start, it was once again Diawara who stood out!
In the second half, Menu was replaced by Anthony in the 46th minute, but Manchester United's midfield and forward line were still not in form. Amlin, who dared to make adjustments on the spot, made consecutive substitutions in the 53rd and 54th minutes, replacing Hui Lun with Zirkze and Ugart with Collier.
In the 59th minute, Ghanacho sent a cross, Anthony attempted a sliding shot, but ended up directly passing the ball to Ramsdale. Amlin on the sidelines held his head with both hands, simply unbelievable!
Finally, in the 81st minute, Manchester United broke quickly after intercepting the ball in the middle and backcourt, Amad Diallo broke into the penalty area, calmly opened up the angle and shot, but was blocked before following up to score, helping Manchester United equalize 1-1!
Not over yet! In the 90th minute of the game, Amad Diallo passed to Eriksen, who then delivered a precise pass, and the young Ivorian scored with an overhead kick, successfully doubling his tally, and Manchester United turned the game around 2-1!
In the third minute of stoppage time in the second half, Ramsdale made a mistake in passing in front of the goal, Belis also made a mistake in stopping the ball, and Amad Diallo gratefully accepted the gift, scoring another goal to complete the 12-minute hat-trick, Manchester United 3-1!
The game ended, with Amad Diallo's hat-trick, Manchester United staged a strong comeback from 0-1 to 3-1 at home, successfully securing 3 points, accumulating 26 points and ranking 12th in the Premier League.
Thus, the 22-year-old and 189-day-old Amad Diallo became the second youngest player in Manchester United's Premier League history to score a hat-trick, only surpassed by Rooney who was 21 years and 4 days old at the time. He is also the first player to score a hat-trick for Manchester United since Ronaldo did so against Norwich in 2022!
Having scored against Manchester City and securing a point for the team against Liverpool, this time he scored a hat-trick at home to help Manchester United achieve a three-goal comeback. The 2002-born Amad Diallo has truly become the key player for Manchester United to secure points this season.
Amad Diallo has excellent footwork and his scoring ability has improved significantly as he is good at dribbling. As a player who excels on the flanks, he is very active defensively, capable of playing as both a winger and a wing-back, hence he was deeply trusted when Amlin, who mainly uses a three-man defensive formation, arrived.
So far this season in the Premier League, the Ivorian international Amad Diallo has scored 6 goals and provided 6 assists in 19 rounds, making him the current top scorer in the Premier League for Manchester United!
In all competitions, he has contributed 9 goals and 7 assists in 30 games, participating in 16 goals, second only to B Fee's 18 goals. Among U22 players in Europe's top five leagues, he closely follows the three hottest talents in today's football world: Palmer and Wirtz with 20 goals, and Yamar with 21 goals.
In January 2021, Manchester United signed Amad Diallo from Atalanta for a transfer fee of 21.3 million euros. At that time, the head coach was Solskjaer, and this transfer was considered an alternative plan as Manchester United could not immediately sign Sancho.
Over the course of 4 years, this young Ivorian has been demoted to Manchester United's U23 team, loaned successively to Scottish Premiership Rangers and Championship Sunderland for training, always falling short of a place in the main lineup of Manchester United.
Especially under Ten Hag, although Amad Diallo could appear on the team's match list, the Dutch秃顶 (bald head) believed more in his inner circle, thus his ranking was lower than Anthony, resulting in not many opportunities to play.
It can be said that fortune takes turns, and now it is already January 2025. The once acclaimed "Messi of Atalanta" Amad Diallo has been diligent enough to finally secure a place at Old Trafford at the age of 22.
Anthony, who once overshadowed him, is quite embarrassed this season, with only 0 goals and 0 assists in 7 rounds of the Premier League, and his personal value has dropped from 75 million euros at the time of joining to 20 million euros. Amad Diallo, on the other hand, has risen to 25 million euros, completely surpassing the compass in the lineup of Manchester United.
As an alternative to Sancho, who Manchester United failed to sign at the time, Amad Diallo, who was not favored and ranked lower than Anthony upon joining, has finally made a name for himself!