Manchester United and Erik ten Hag are being given a simple Amad transfer decision to make
As Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt players come from the tunnel at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium in Seville for the Europa League final on Wednesday night, you can bet that a good number of Manchester United fans will be watching in to catch a sight of Amad.
The Ivorian winger, who joined United from Atalanta in January last year, joined Rangers on loan in January to boost his chances of playing first-team football on a regular basis. Despite his best efforts north of the border, though, opportunities at the Glasgow giants have not come his way as quickly as he would have wanted.
Since his January arrival, he has appeared in just 12 games, scoring three goals. You could have been forgiven for expecting him to take the Scottish Premiership by storm after scoring five minutes into his debut against Ross County at the end of January.
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Instead, he has been forced to play a waiting game by manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who might become the first Rangers manager to win a European trophy since William Waddell in 1972. Amad has been a spectator throughout their Europa League trip, appearing as an unused substitute in each of their eight Europa League knockout matches since arriving in Glasgow.
But, since Rangers’ victory against RB Leipzig less than a fortnight ago, Amad’s opportunities have multiplied – and he has, to his credit, take use of them. Despite only starting one of the last three games, he has scored in two of them, scoring after coming off the bench against Dundee United and Ross County.
Van Bronckhorst started Sunday’s 3-1 win over Hearts, but he made wholesale changes to his lineup, evidently looking ahead to Wednesday night’s duel in Spain. It may mean that Amad will have to settle for a bench spot once more and wait for his first taste of European football in a Rangers shirt, but that is acceptable and fair on those who have led the club to their first European final since 2008.
But whether Amad plays or not on Wednesday night, Van Bronckhorst has acknowledged that he has shown development in recent weeks. The Dutchman recently lauded his performances and refused to rule out keeping him as a player next season.
Following last week’s victory over Ross County, he stated: “I am pleased with his performance. His loan will conclude at the end of the season, after which he will return to Manchester. I’m not sure if he’ll be back next season.
“I’m pleased with Amad. He’s been getting more playing time in recent weeks.
“He’s been training well; he had a period where he struggled with the new squad he was in and the adjustment to a new city, but I’m very pleased with him. He’s a very excellent winger, as we’ve seen in recent weeks, but we also have a lot of players in that position who have done well.”
What the summer holds for Amad and the other members of United’s loan army remains to be seen. Erik ten Hag will want to analyze everyone in his squad and gain a sense of how each of them can contribute to his long-term and short-term ambitions.
However, because Amad is a long-term player, there will be no pressure on him this summer. He won’t turn 20 until July, and it will be a long time before he reaches his potential.
That is why remaining at Rangers or going abroad on a season-long loan could be in both his and United’s best interests. Allowing Amad to call somewhere home for a season would be far more useful than battling to make the matchday squad at Old Trafford.
Nobody can argue that his brief spell at Rangers has not gone as well as he, United, or the Gers would have hoped. A whole season in a familiar setting, aided by a full pre-season, could be just what he needs to continue climbing the professional ladder.
