'Talent without heart' - What went wrong for Man Utd hero Amad Diallo during rotten Rangers loan?

Amad joined Rangers on loan from United in January 2022 as a highly-talented and highly-valuable 19-year-old, but one who needed to get to grips with British football and get minutes under his belt. Amad had made only 19 appearances for the Red Devils, the majority of which were as a substitute, following his big-money move from Atalanta.

In fact, he needed senior experience of any kind, as he had played just 76 minutes of professional football when United agreed to pay Atalanta a total fee of £37 million to sign him a year earlier. But Rangers were nothing like the basket case United are right now. They were Scottish champions and locked in a tight title race with Celtic while also in the knockout rounds of the Europa League.

“Rangers were going well in the league, Giovani Van Bronkchorst had made an unbelievable start in his first three months, and that January window Rangers needed two signings that could potentially tilt the league in their favour," explains journalist Jordan Campbell of The Athletic, who covered Rangers at the time.

"The right-wing position was the one that was the most obvious gap in the team. Gio knew what he wanted from his wingers, he wanted one-v-one guys who could go outside and inside, were really direct, so Amad fitted the bill. The price tag made it quite exciting and so did the fact he was coming from Manchester United."

Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson described Amad as "a really exciting signing" while Van Bronckhorst, who had succeeded Steven Gerrard at Ibrox, said the winger would "add a lot to our squad".

Amad could hardly have had a better debut, scoring a tap-in within five minutes at Ross County and proving he was much tougher than many people expected. Particularly the home defence, who unsuccessfully tried to bully him off the ball.

That opening display earned Amad a starting berth in the Old Firm derby at Celtic Park the following week, but that proved to be too stern a test for the youngster, who was one of three players to be hauled off at half-time as Rangers trailed their hated rivals 3-0. Amad was described as a "rabbit in headlights" by ex-Scotland international Steven Thompson, and he started just two more league games, one of which came after Rangers had already surrendered the title to Celtic.

"In hindsight that really backfired. It was Gio’s first defeat and it meant that Rangers, for the first time in months, were actually behind. So I think that changed a lot of the dynamics and the mood around the place," says Campbell. "They were leading, everything was hunky dory, and then all of a sudden there's a crisis and Rangers are playing catch up. I wouldn’t go as far to say Amad was a scapegoat, but there was a sense that Gio lost trust in him."

Things took a turn for the worse later that month when Rangers went to Dundee United needing to win to realistically stay in the title race. Amad came off the bench, and although he was on the pitch when Joe Aribo scored, he had riled fans by pulling out of a tackle. A tough afternoon was then capped when he burst though on goal with Aribo to his left, but opted to shoot and hit the post, to howls of derision from the Dundee fans.

Former Rangers player Derek Ferguson was scathing in his criticism, saying "When you come on the park, you've got to be ready. Amad Diallo just looks a bit half-hearted, so he's got to produce something." The popular Rangers podcast Heart and Hand also showed their disapproval. "Talent without heart is nothing," they wrote on Twitter, also recommending Amad spend a week in Possil, one of Glasgow’s roughest neighbourhoods, to toughen up.

"The fans gave him a hard time that day because if there's one thing that Rangers fans do not accept, it’s jumping out of tackles, even if you’re a five-foot-five winger," Campbell says. "After he hit the post you could see the confidence draining from him. The Amad now you see is pretty ruthless in those positions, that was the big difference. It felt quite harsh that day, you think he’s a young guy from the Ivory Coast and this is something quite brutal for him to go through."

Amad did not play again in the league for nearly two months, with Ange Postecoglou's Celtic proving too strong in the title race, going unbeaten from September to May. The winger was just a bystander in Rangers' epic journey to the Europa League final, too, as despite being part of every matchday squad following his arrival, he never got on the pitch. His highlight was celebrating the semi-final second leg win over RB Leipzig on the pitch at Ibrox, sporting a Union Jack bucket hat.

"The European run was basically built on the back of Gio being a really, really good cup manager and identifying one or two things that in those knockout games gave Rangers the edge. Amad wasn't really at the stage of career where he was ready to go implement those sort of high-risk pressing strategies," Campbell says. "That's not really his game either. I don't think then he was really someone you’d think he's going to go after somebody and then make them uncomfortable. And that’s what Rangers’ European run was based on, saying 'Let’s make this absolute Hell for teams and press the whole pitch'. And it worked."

In the final against Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville, Amad was relegated to fourth-choice winger as Scott Wright began the game, Fashion Sakala replaced him and then Aaron Ramsey came on in the 117th minute ahead of the penalty shootout. Ramsey was the only player to miss from the spot as the Gers lost out.

Amad at least got to start the Scottish Cup final days later, although he was taken off in the 63rd minute of Rangers’ eventual 2-0 win over Hearts after extra-time. That proved to be his final appearance in a blue shirt as he departed with a record of three goals in 13 appearances.

The following campaign, Amad embarked on another loan, 165 miles south east of Glasgow in Sunderland. It was in some respects a similar environment to Rangers, a huge club with demanding fans in an unforgiving league. But after a slow start which included dropping down to the Under-21 team for a game, Amad found his feet and, in Tony Mowbray, found a coach that, unlike Van Bronckhorst, truly believed in him.

Amad scored 17 goals to send Sunderland into the play-offs, and Mowbray was desperate for him to stay even if he knew the player had become too good for the club. "He undoubtedly has the talent to play at the top level," he said. "It is whether the personality will mature and grow into believing he can play on that stage. If he can get that and feel comfortable in that environment, then he has the talent to thrive there."

Amad is now fulfilling Mowbray’s prophecy back at the club he signed for four years ago, when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hailed him as "one of the most exciting young prospects in the game, a player with all of the raw attributes that are needed to be an important player for Manchester United".

Important doesn’t justify Amad’s current status at United; he is priceless. It is telling that in the same month United made it clear that homegrown stars Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho were for sale, they locked down Amad’s future, tying him to the club until 2030 with a bumper new contract.

"I am telling you now, to go to Rangers and Sunderland, at some point you are going to have to perform as they are two tough clubs to go to,” former United player Wes Brown told The Daily Record. "At Rangers he didn't do too well and he would have felt the pressure, but somewhere along the line he's realised he can handle it and go and enjoy it and play. He managed to do that at Sunderland. From our fans there has been some pressure to see if he is good enough, and he has performed in every single game. He is the bright light that has come out of this season."

Rio Ferdinand, meanwhile, summed up Amad’s remarkable turnaround when he said: "People inside and outside the club were thinking he’s too small, too lightweight, not dynamic or powerful for its league. Fans were thinking: ‘We don’t know what he is’. But he’s gone out on loan. With and without the ball, he’s been brilliant. I think he’s a real footballer."

There is understandable regret among some Rangers fans that they could not make more of Amad, but Campbell is at pains to point out that "the Amad we’re seeing now is not the Amad Rangers saw.” He adds: "He wasn't as bad as people make out, but he never really got the opportunity to get a run of games under his belt. I think the final few games he played you saw that he maybe could have contributed more games.

"But at that time Rangers needed a guy who was going to be the finishing touch to get the team over the line in the league. So Amad coming from U23 football at Manchester United to his first loan spell at a club with relentless pressure was a lot to ask from him. But it probably stood him in good stead."

You can say that again. Three years on from a move that many classed as a failure, Rangers fans at Old Trafford will get the chance first hand to see how much Amad has grown. The ‘half-hearted’ boy who was urged to toughen up has developed not just into a man but a talisman, the one source of hope for a club on its knees.