Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst has claimed that the club have yet to reach a decision on the future of loanee Amad.
The 19-year-old joined the Scottish champions in January, with his opportunities at Manchester United extremely limited. But after scoring on his debut, Amad has once again been on the sidelines and played just 239 minutes in the league in five months.
It appeared almost a guarantee that the forward - whose transfer from Atalanta to United could eventually top £35million - would return to Old Trafford at the end of the season. But after showing a glimpse of his talents in the win over St. Mirren, the door appears to at least be ajar.
Amad came off the bench at half-time of Rangers’ clash with Dundee United on Sunday, knowing only a win would keep their faint title hopes alive. And in an impressive 45-minute cameo, the youngster scored the decisive second with a deft finish after being put through by Fashion Sikala.
Van Bronckhorst was able to utilise some of the lesser-seen members of his squad, with much of the Gers’ focus now on the Europa League final with Eintracht Frankfurt later this month. And the Dutchman accepts that Amad needs more regular minutes to flourish, but said a final decision hadn’t yet been made on his prospects for next term.
“Today we could give a lot of players the chance to make minutes. I think Amad is a player who benefits from that. He will get minutes in the last games,” the Rangers boss said after his goal.
“You could see what he brings to the team. I’m really happy with his performance today and with his behaviour overall. What happens next season, we haven’t discussed his future.
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“Once the decision has to be made about what the squad will look like next year, we will also make a decision about who we want to bring on board.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer handed Amad his full United debut during his stint as manager, with the winger opening his account during the Europa League quarter-final tie with AC Milan. Injuries hampered his progress in the first half of this campaign, but prior to that, the ex-United boss had tipped the wonderkid for an extremely bright future, predicting he would become an important member of the squad at his parent club.
“He’s still a young lad, he’s 18 but of course we see top, top potential in him,” Solskjaer said last year. “He’s a very good lad, very likeable, he works hard. Of course he needs to adapt to a new country, a new language.
“He doesn’t speak English well enough to feel confident enough to engage in the conversations – but that’s coming, he’s learning. We believe he has the attributes mentally, technically and physically to be a top player for us.”
Erik ten Hag, who will begin his tenure at the end of the current season, is set to take stock of the entire Manchester United squad and has planned one-on-one talks with every player contracted to the club. It is anticipated he will make wholesale changes during his first summer in charge as United look to bounce back from what has been an historically poor campaign.
The 4-0 thrashing by Brighton on Saturday ensued that under Ralf Rangnick, United will finish with their lowest ever Premier League points tally and could yet miss out on Europa League qualification.
