How Man United saviour Amad Diallo compares to the Premier League’s most exciting young forwards

If there’s one shining light in Manchester United‘s turbulent season it’s the dazzling performances of young winger Amad Diallo.

The Red Devils looked like they were heading for their 10th defeat of the season on Thursday against Southampton, the basement boys of the Premier League. Manuel Ugarte’s own goal left them trailing 1-0 heading in the final ten minutes of the game, but Diallo stepped up to pull United out of another hole with a brilliant hat-trick.

Just as he won the game against Manchester City and rescued a point against Liverpool, Diallo showed he is Ruben Amorim’s saviour. He smashed in his first goal from an angle, then poked home the winner on the volley before tapping home a third after capitalising on a Southampton lapse at the back.

It means Diallo is now one of only two Premier League players to score a match-winning goal after the 80th minute on two occasions this season, the other being Mohamed Salah. In fact only Salah (5) has more post-80-minute goals than Diallo this season (4).

Despite narrowly avoiding a humiliating defeat, Amorim sought to keep his youngster’s feet firmly on the ground.

“He has a lot to improve but this game is in the past and you have to prepare for the future,” said the former Sporting boss. “Football is like this and life is like this.”

But it’s impossible to ignore Diallo’s potential after watching him hit the heights he has reached this season. The Ivory Coast star now on six goals and six assists in the Premier League alone, leading Man United in both categories.

It’s clear Diallo is United’s most exciting young player right now, in what is his breakout season at Old Trafford. But how does he compare to the best young talents in the Premier League this season?

When it comes to goals and assists combined per 90 for wingers aged 23 or under this season, Diallo ranks second with 0.82 per 90, behind only Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka (1.06). Chelsea’s Noni Madueke and Nottingham Forest’s Anthony Elanga are joint third on 0.6, while Tottenham’s Brennan Johnson is fourth on 0.54.

Diallo has a total xG of 3.92, ranking him seventh in this player category. That works out at 0.27 per 90, just behind Saka (0.3). Ahead of them are Johnson (0.48), Bournemouth’s Ouattara (0.41), Madueke (0.40), Anthony Gordon (0.39) and Alejandro Garnacho (0.38).

Perhaps that’s what Amorim means when he says he has “a lot to improve”; he wants to see him get into dangerous positions on a regular basis, rather than delivering sporadically in big moments.

However, his goals per 90 is 0.40, putting him eighth among regular Premier League players aged 23 or under. It is also higher than Gordon and Saka, while he also has 0.41 assists per 90.

Take-ons is another area where Diallo has flourished this season. He’s completed 32 of his attempted 61 take-ons this season, working out at 2.18 per 90, just below Saka’s 2.33.

We’re only halfway through the season, of course. It’s clear Diallo still has plenty more to give after emerging as one of United’s most important players, in a campaign where we’ve seen more established wingers like Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Antony struggle to impress.

While Amorim has been doing everything in his power to keep him grounded, Diallo himself couldn’t hide his elation after notching his first senior hat-trick.

Speaking to the media after the game, he said: “In football you have to believe. We believed until the end and are very happy to win this game.

“We drew with Arsenal and Liverpool so the confidence was there. We are very happy. Maybe [this is] one of the best weeks in my life. I am very happy for this win. This team deserved to win this game so I am very happy.”