‘Stop the hatred’ – Manchester United winger clarifies decision to deactivate social media account

There were several reports doing the rounds about Amad Diallo on Monday night, purely based on the Ivorian’s social media activity and little substance, which in hindsight seems a bit ridiculous but shouldn’t surprise us in an area of clickbait media.

The Ivory Coast winger, 21, appeared to have deactivated his Instagram account – just hours after followers noticed that he removed all references to United from his profile.

Amad has struggled for game time at Old Trafford since his transfer from Atalanta in 2021 for a whopping £37 million.

The talented prospect has since had two very different loan spells. The first, in the SPL with Rangers, was a disaster but Amad turned things around the following season when he became a loanee sensation at Sunderland under former manager Tony Mowbray, and helped guide them to a promotion spot last term.

However, Diallo has made just three appearances for the Reds this season and on Monday evening appeared to delete all photos and every mention of United on his Instagram account. Only a few photos were left visible, including some from his time with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

Then, hours later, Diallo’s account had completely disappeared.

Diallo quickly quashed the rumours and uncertainty by sharing an update to his Snapchat, where he wrote: “I deactivated my social media for a month just to focus on Ramadan, it’s a holy month for me and social media is a place where there are bad things to see during fasting. Stop the hatred, there’s nothing wrong with that I did.”

Considering how well Amad did in the Championship last season, scoring 14 goals, it would be fair to say I am a little surprised by the lack of opportunities he has been given on the right flank this season.

To Erik ten Hag’s defence, there was a period when United looked short for options on the right-wing but Diallo was recovering from injury during that period. You will remember that was when Facundo Pellistri got his chance to impress the manager before being loaned out to La Liga outfit Granada.

Wherever Diallo finds himself plying his trade next season or beyond, I think he has a bright future ahead of him. I’m just not completely sold that it will be at Old Trafford or under Ten Hag unless he can take Alejandro Garnacho out of the team between now and the end of the season.

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