Amad Diallo transfer fee: Man Utd wonderkid finally showing true value

Stuart Telford

• 18 Apr 2023 15:11 BST
• 3 min read

Amad Diallo has once viewed as a €40 million flop, but the Manchester United youngster is recovering his career on loan at Sunderland, and his transfer value is climbing as a result.

United paid Atalanta an initial €25m for Diallo in January 2021, with a further €15m to follow in add-ons, after the Ivorian winger hat lit up Italian youth football.

Diallo had plundered 37 goals and 24 assists in 94 games - from the wing - with Atalanta's age group teams, with two goal-involvements in a 3-1 win over Manchester City in the UEFA Youth League in 2019 in particular catching the eye.

READ: Man Utd wonderkid branded 'club’s greatest ever loanee'

United moved to sign him ahead of their rivals, but it soon became apparent he wasn't trusted by then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and he started just two Premier League games under the Norwegian.

Even after Solskjaer was sacked, Diallo found himself farmed out on loan to Rangers and then Sunderland as his transfer value plummeted to just €800,000 per FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm.

But Diallo's spell at the Black Cats has been exactly the shot in the arm he and Man Utd needed.

READ: Amad Diallo: Man Utd warned they could lose 'one hell of a player'

The 20-year-old has hit 12 goals from 33 games in the Championship, adding another three assists across all competitions, and his transfer value has climbed to €4.3m - with a ETV range which currently tops out at €5.4m.

Diallo's highest ever ETV was €13.8m, right when United bought him, and the gap between what they paid and what he is worth is now closing, having got too wide for comfort for the Red Devils.

Amad's value has climbed €3.7m in the last six months. Another season on same trajectory and it would stand at €11.7m - little more than two million shy of his ETV high.

And who knows? If Diallo can get a shot in the United first team next season ahead of the €100m Antony and €85m Jadon Sancho, he might end up making a mockery of the €40m deal United agreed to two years ago.