Manchester United on Thursday confirmed the signing of forward Amad Diallo from Atalanta. The Ivorian winger has signed a contract to the end of June 2025, with the option of an extra year. When an agreement between the clubs was first announced on October 5, 2020 – deadline day at the end of the summer transfer window – it was subject to a medical, work-permit and personal terms.
These steps in the process have been completed, and an application has been made for a visa. Once this has been issued, Diallo will be cleared to travel to Manchester and to train with and play for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
“After waiting since the summer, it is finally a dream come true to complete my move to Manchester United. I am hugely ambitious and there is so much that I want to achieve in the game; when I spoke to the manager I knew that I had joined the perfect club,” the 18-year-old striker said in a statement.
“This is a really exciting squad with so many great players, I can promise that I will work hard every day to learn from them and give everything to develop my game. The coaches have been fantastic since I signed, we have been in touch regularly and they have already given me a lot of great advice,” he added.
Diallo featured twice for Atalanta’s first team earlier this season, both as a substitute in home games. He played the last 10 minutes against Hellas Verona in Serie A on November 28 and then faced FC Midtjylland a few days later in the Champions League, coming on in the 68th minute.
Promoted
The 18-year-old, who played regularly in Atalanta’s youth ranks, made a total of five senior appearances for the Italian club and scored one goal, on his debut against Udinese in October 2019.
Welcoming Amad to United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: “As a club, we have followed Amad for a number of years and having watched him myself, I believe he is one of the most exciting young prospects in the game. Manchester United has such a proud history of developing young players and everything is in place to enable Amad to reach his potential here.”