Ivory Coast manager Patrice Beaumelle has told BBC Sport Africa that Amad Diallo should consider leaving Manchester United on loan, amid rumoured interest from Crystal Palace.
Beaumelle feels the talented 19-year-old needs to consider a move away from Old Trafford to show he deserves to feature in the next Africa Cup of Nations. Ivory Coast were drawn to face Algeria, Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea at the tournament starting next January.
Diallo made his senior international debut this March in the final stages of the Ivory Coast’s AFCON qualifier with Niger. He is yet to start a fixture under Beaumelle, but struck his first goal in June against Burkina Faso. The teen also featured four times at the Tokyo Olympics.
Crystal Palace have shown an interest in potentially signing Diallo on loan from Manchester United this summer, per Fabrizio Romano. The Eagles and Swiss side Basel have asked the Red Devils if they would consider sanctioning a season-long deal.
Diallo joined Manchester United from Atalanta in January for £19m, but has made just eight appearances, starting two, so far. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also omitted the winger from his opening-day squad against Leeds last weekend.
Beaumelle wants to see Diallo featuring more so the Crystal Palace target can fine tune his game ahead of AFCON.
“We are four or five months before AFCON and I would love him to play more games,” Beaumelle said. “When you have talent like Amad Diallo has, he needs to show it and to improve on the field.
“I think that if he is not playing too much for Manchester United for now it is better to go on loan, to show he deserves to be in the line-up or to play more for Manchester United.”
Should Crystal Palace loan Manchester United’s Diallo amid Beaumelle claim?
Solskjaer is unlikely to offer Diallo the opportunities Beaumelle wants for the Crystal Palace target at Manchester United this season. The former Atalanta gem has plenty of potential to fulfil, but is contending with proven options in Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood and Dan James for minutes at Old Trafford.
Joining Patrick Vieira may, therefore, be Diallo’s best chance of locking down a place in the Ivory Coast squad. The new Crystal Palace boss could offer him more game time than is on offer under Solskjaer at the moment.
Diallo showed Crystal Palace the creative presence he can offer against Leicester City in May. The 19-year-old assisted Greenwood on his Premier League debut during a 2-1 loss to the Foxes. He seized on Luke Thomas’ mistake and proved useful throughout.
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