Rio Ferdinand reveals ‘people inside Manchester United’ feared £37m signing was ‘not good enough’

Rio Ferdinand says ‘people inside Manchester United’ were initially questioning the signing of Amad Diallo.

The Premier League club agreed a deal to sign Ivory Coast winger Diallo from Serie A side Atalanta towards the end of 2021.

United spent an initial £19m to secure his signature – the overall cost of his deal could rise to £37m – and saw off competition from a number of clubs to bring him to Old Trafford on a four-year deal.

After arriving in the Premier League at the age of 19, Diallo struggled to make an instant impact at Manchester United and was sent on loan to Scottish giants Rangers in January 2022 and then Championship side Sunderland the following season.

A year spent at the Stadium of Light appeared to work wonders for Diallo, who began to impress for the Red Devils last season and has emerged as key member of the squad this term.

It was Diallo, of course, who inspired Manchester United’s dramatic late comeback in Sunday’s derby against Manchester City, winning a penalty and then scoring an injury-time winner to stun Pep Guardiola’s champions.

Ferdinand has been hugely impressed by Diallo’s development and says he is now the ‘first name’ on the teamsheet for new United boss Ruben Amorim.

However, the Manchester United legend has revealed ‘people inside’ Old Trafford were not immediately won over by Diallo and feared he was too ‘lightweight’ for the Premier League.

‘More than the goal, I just love the character of this kid,’ Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel. ‘He’s a young kid who was brought into the club for a lot of money, there was a lot of interest in him.

‘Immediately it felt like, “not for us, not good enough”. People inside and outside the club were thinking, “too small, too lightweight, not dynamic or powerful enough for this league.”

‘They were thinking, “I don’t know what he is, he’s a good footballer but he’s not got it.”

‘My man has seen and heard that stuff and used it as fuel and gone to work, gone out on loan and look at him now.

‘The new manager’s come in, and I would go as far as to say he [Diallo] is the first name on the teamsheet for this manager and that’s a testament to this kid’s character.

‘His will to change the tide and swing against the current and say to people, “No, no, you can’t leave me out. You can’t! I might be small in stature but I have the biggest heart.”

‘With his performances he’s been saying, “I’m going to run, I’m going to work and then I’m going to make decisive, great decisions when I’ve got it, I’m going to impact the game.”

‘With and without the ball, he’s been brilliant. I think he’s a real footballer.

‘I don’t think that was ever in doubt, everyone could see the talent. But they just didn’t see the other side of him when you look at him.’

Diallo said he felt ‘very good’ after starring in the Manchester derby and was enjoying playing under Amorim, who arrived at Old Trafford last month following Erik ten Hag’s sacking.

‘I’m feeling very good, very nice,’ he told MUTV. ‘Winning against City, a derby like this, away against them who are one of the best teams in the world, you can have only good feeling.

‘I’m so happy. Today, we knew it was not easy, but this is a derby, if you want to win you have to be angrier than them and we showed that.

‘We were angry and we are happy to win the game. I am following the manager’s system.

‘He’s demanding a lot of pressing and when I have to press, I go 100 per cent and I don’t care who is there, who is not there.

‘I was happy to win the first penalty. I tried to shoot but I was maybe a little bit smart to say the defender was coming, and he touched my legs, [so it was a] penalty.

‘The second one, we know Licha [Lisandro Martinez] is a good player to give you this ball. In the beginning, I didn’t believe in the ball because it was going too quick, but I touched the ball and I score.

‘I was so happy to score against City and so happy to win this game. I want to enjoy this moment today and then let’s focus for the next game.’

Despite beating Manchester City, United remain in the bottom-half of the Premier League ahead of next weekend’s home match against in-form Bournemouth.

Before hosting the Cherries at Old Trafford, Amorim takes his Manchester United team to north London for a huge Carabao Cup quarter-final against Tottenham.

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