Manchester United showed glimpses of the team that they can be against Southampton at the weekend, easing the pressure on under-fire manager, Erik ten Hag.
The Dutchman had once again seen his men struggle in their opening few games, prompting the knives to be sharpened after just three games.
An insipid opening day win over Fulham didn’t win the Red Devils any plaudits, and nor did defeats against Brighton and Hove Albion and Liverpool.
Manchester United to offer 22-year-old a new long-term deal
Against their fierce local rivals, they were played off the Old Trafford pitch, so the win at St. Mary’s would’ve come as a huge relief to all.
One player that has seen more action than perhaps he expected during those opening games has been Amad Diallo.
The 22-year-old has started in most of United’s games this season, leaving expensive flop, Antony, to stew on the bench.
It’s perhaps his form from pre-season, which he’s taken into the Premier League, that has been enough to convince ten Hag to recommend to the board that the player is offered a new long-term contract.
According to the Manchester Evening News, the club hope to tie Amad down to a new long-term deal in the coming months, but if they’re not able to agree anything by the new year, they will at the very least exercise an option in the players current contract that will extend it to stop the vultures circling.
This would then give the club an appropriate amount of time to iron out the details of any new deal.
Amad is understood to be completely happy at the club, and so a new deal would clearly be something acceptable to him and his representatives.
Given he is emerging as a vital cog in the wheel at Old Trafford, this would simply cement his place at the club.
Top photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images
