Amad Diallo is making his first appearance since a £38.5m January transfer from Atalanta to Manchester United – as the club takes on fierce north west rivals Liverpool in an Under-23 game in Premier League 2.

Diallo, who is expected to become a first-team player before the end of the season, even made the perfect start by scoring inside the opening 15 minutes of the contest. United raced into a 2-0 lead thanks to Joe Hugill, although Liverpool have since pulled it back to 2-2, with the game still ongoing.

With shirts numbered 1-11 at Under-23 level, Diallo lined up in United’s 11 jersey, although when he makes his first-team debut he has already been assigned Marcus Rashford’s old number 19.

United fans were already excited about the teenage Ivorian, but his immediate impact will only increase the anticipation that surrounds this enormous talent, who is very highly spoken of by those who knew him and worked with him in Italy.

Diallo has already been training with the first-team, but United were still expected to be cautious and patient with the 18-year-old, giving him time to settle as has been the case with fellow youngster Facundo Pellistri in recent months.

But Diallo is already making it hard for manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to ignore him.

When he first spoke about the player to the media earlier this month, the United boss said it would probably be sooner than four or five weeks that Diallo is named in a matchday squad.

Solskjaer reiterated that stance only a few days ago, underlining the potential for Diallo to be given a chance in the first-team sooner rather than later.

“With Amad, I think it’s a different scenario [to Pellistri], he’s just come in and he’s going through a good training regime, training programme, and he’s doing really well. It won’t be too long, I feel, before I can bring him into the squad,” Solskjaer said.

Speaking on Friday about the Under-23 Liverpool clash, Solskjaer had also said of Diallo, “He’s been training really well and settling in. He’s ready to get some game-time and match exposure. I’m looking forward to seeing him.”

United are due to face Southampton at Old Trafford on Tuesday evening, before upcoming games against Everton, West Ham (FA Cup) and West Brom. They will play Real Sociedad in the Europa League on 18 February and you would no longer rule out Diallo potentially being involved in any of those fixtures over the coming three weeks as he fast-tracks himself into contention.

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