When Amad Diallo runs for Manchester United at Old Trafford on Thursday evening, Glasgow Rangers fans could be forgiven for checking twice that it is the same player who spent five months on loan at Ibrox just three years ago.
Diallo, the new darling of Old Trafford. Diallo, the young man on a new £100,000-a-week contract. Diallo, the player United have worked hard to keep amid talks over the possible departures of Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford.
It's quite a contrast to Diallo's loan spell at Rangers after joining from United in January 2022. He reached a low point when he was substituted at half-time of his first Old Firm match against Celtic.
So often in football it's about being in the right place at the right time. Fortune has not always smiled on Diallo in the four years since he joined United, but the instantly likeable Ivorian is now reaping the benefits.
No player fits better into the system and ethos brought to Old Trafford by new head coach Ruben Amorim. Theirs seems to be a match made in Heaven.
While other players like Rashford and Garnacho suddenly face uncertain futures at the club, the young man who could easily have walked away as a free agent this summer has a new five-and-a-half-year contract and the admiration of all United fans.
A 12-minute hat-trick as Amorim's side came from behind to beat Southampton a week ago cemented Diallo's place in their hearts, thanks to his goals in the win over Manchester City and the draw against Liverpool. The diminutive winger is the man for the big occasion.
Since Erik ten Hag was sacked at the end of October, Diallo has started thirteen games under caretaker Ruud van Nistelrooy and Amorim, scoring eight goals and five assists in all competitions.
Only Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and Newcastle's Alexander Isak have been involved in more Premier League goals for their teams.
Despite a memorable FA Cup quarter-final winner against Liverpool last season, Diallo did not always appear to have the confidence of Ten Hag, who preferred his former Ajax winger Antony or Rashford on the right flank.
It came to a head in the manager's penultimate match against Fenerbahce, when a stony Diallo was brought on as a substitute for Antony in the 89th minute and had to be hushed to the touchline by the coaching staff.
The renaissance began under Van Nistelrooy when Diallo asked for extra work from the former United striker, as he often did under Ten Hag striker Benni McCarthy. It paid off with both goals against PAOK Salonika in November.
However, the 22-year-old has reached another level under Amorim, playing as a right wing-back or inside right in a 3-4-3 formation.
Diallo set up a goal for Rashford within two minutes of Amorim's first game at Ipswich and was man of the match against Everton. In those first two Premier League games under Amorim he ran 19.8km – more than any other United player.
Diallo embodies the selfless attitude and versatility that Amorim expects from his team. The Portuguese wrote of 'fight, heart and hunger' in his program notes for the match against Southampton, and his number 16 showed all three as he chased a hat-trick.
Diallo, who speaks English, French and Italian, has a particularly close bond with Rasmus Hojlund, Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo, who protected his Muslim teammate from the champagne spray when United won the FA Cup at Wembley in May.
Club insiders describe a smart, determined and ambitious young man who has come out of his shell since entering the first team and is embracing responsibility as a senior player.
It's quite a turnaround since he joined United from Atalanta in January 2021 for a fee of £19m plus £18.2m in add-ons.
Diallo has encountered a host of problems, not least the player trafficking allegations that followed him from the Ivory Coast to Italy and led to a £40,000 fine.
Then there was the difficult period at Rangers. It yielded three goals in 13 games and a Scottish FA Cup winners' medal, but Diallo's farewell was an unused substitute in the Europa League final defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.
He flourished during a significantly more successful spell at Sunderland under the tutelage of Tony Mowbray, who insisted Diallo show the work ethic he wanted before playing him.
'The journey was not easy at first. Sunderland gave me a lot of confidence and supported me and my family on and off the pitch,” Diallo said last week after signing his new contract.
Now United is also benefiting from this. “I want to stay here for a long, long time,” he added. “Not just for another five years, but maybe for my entire life.”
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