Krishnan Sreekumar
Loan Watch: Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst gives verdict on Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo
Speaking in his pre-match conference against Motherwell on Sunday afternoon (h/t Manchester Evening News), Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst said that Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo is slowly adapting to life in Scottish top-tier football.
Amad made the move to United in the winter transfer window last year from Atalanta, making a couple of appearances for the club in the previous season. He was sent on loan to Rangers last month on loan until the end of the season to gain more first-team football experience.
van Bronckhorst said that Amad has to still develop as a player to gain regular game time under him, as the Ivorian has not played much football over the last few months to develop match rhythm to feature in every game.
“But you can see his quality and in the game last weekend against Dundee United when he came on, he had some good chances to score a goal. But he has to develop as you expect for a young player who hasn’t played much across the last months.”
Despite starting brightly in his Ranger career by scoring five minutes into his debut for the Scottish side last month, the teenager has since struggled for first-team minutes. Even at United, the player was seen warming the bench for a majority of his time in England.
Higher intensity in Scotland
Amad had a bright start to life at Old Trafford as well, as he scored against Italian giants AC Milan in the Europa League with a brilliant header in only his third appearance for the Red Devils. United would go on to reach the finals of the continental competition but fell to Villarreal at the end in a penalty shootout.
A similar start in Scotland, however, has not worked well for Amad as he has only started once since being taken off at half-time earlier this month as Rangers suffered a 3-0 defeat to fierce rivals Celtic. van Bronckhorst however, said that Amad will get more opportunities as he gets used to the intensity of games in the Scottish league.
“He had a good start. You also know the change in environment for him is an aspect that he feels. Also the level of playing now. He played a couple of games with United but only in the reserves so the intensity that he will be feeling in Scotland is much higher.”
Even though the Rangers number 9 started life in the Scottish Premiership with a bang after scoring on debut, his time with the club has not gone to plan so far. Appearances have been far and few since then, and the Ivory Coast international will be itching for more minutes.
At United too, the former Atalanta man was hardly given any chances despite boasting of obvious talent. In the few appearances he has made for the Red Devils, the 19-year-old has managed to score a goal and get a few assists under his belt.
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Amad is sure to be disappointed with how his United career is going, given that Anthony Elanga, also 19, is being handed first-team opportunities this term under interim boss Ralf Rangnick. The Swede was the team’s hero last week as he rescued a 1-1 draw in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid.
van Bronckhorst’s comments seemed to suggest that Amad will get his chances at Rangers as soon as he gets used to the intensity of the league, and the winger will be hoping to get a few minutes this weekend against Motherwell.
