It was always going to be difficult for Amad to live up to the hype that accompanied his move to Manchester United two years ago.
As the club went in desperate search of a new right wing addition on deadline day, United committed to paying as much as £37million for the Atalanta winger, despite the fact he only had 76 minutes of first-team football under his belt.
Firstly, he was coming from the club credited with having the best academy in Italy, and although the overall fee for a deal remains massive, the up-front fee was still a reasonable €21m, with up to €20m in add-ons to possibly follow.
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United were chastised for making a hasty move for Amad after failing to sign Jadon Sancho that summer, but the truth is that they had been scouting him for a year and a half prior to his arrival and continued to keep tabs on him as he progressed through the youth ranks.
Club sources said at the time that the Ivorian winger consistently received the highest rankings for academy or developing first-team players on their radar.
It has taken a while, but we are finally seeing exactly why United took that relative risk to sign him in the first place, even if he had to drop a level to do so.
The 20-year-old struggled when loaned out to Scottish side Rangers last season, and so the decision was made to send him out on loan again to Sunderland this summer in order to aid his development.
On both occasions, there has been serious interest from abroad in his services, but United coaches took the decision to keep him in Britain in order to best prepare him for a possible Premier League role.
That in itself is an indication of the faith United have in Amad to one day become a valued member of the first-team squad, and in order for that to happen, he needs to be playing regularly at a competitive level.
At first, it seemed like there was little chance of that happening. The Ivorian only started one of the first eight league matches this season and was clearly struggling to adjust to his new surroundings.
"He is a very talented boy," Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray said of his latest performance on Monday night. "He is integrating into the group. His personality was very introverted when he arrived, a quiet lad who kept himself to himself, but I think he feels the respect of the rest of the group now, and he has earned that with his performance level and work rate along with his talent."
That latest performance came on Monday night, as the United loanee won and then converted a penalty in Sunderland's 2-1 home defeat to West Brom. In doing so, he became the first Sunderland player to score in three successive matches in the past five years.
On a disappointing evening for the side, Amad was the shining light once again, taking his tally to five goals in his last seven matches as part of a resurgent run.
He could have also won a second spot-kick in the second-half of the match, but play was brought back because the ball was adjudged to have gone out of play before the foul was committed.
What has been the most noticeable development this season is how the United loanee has managed to adapt his game to suit his surroundings. Not only is he dealing with the physicality better, but he also understands how to use it to his advantage, such as drawing fouls from opponents or drifting out of position to collect the ball in a more advantageous position.
This impressive run of form comes at a time when United are open to recalling certain players on loan in the January transfer window, with the club having recall options on Ethan Laird, Hannibal Mejbri and Amad next month.
That has brought with it suggestions that Amad could be a player to help supplement their attack in the second half of the season, but despite United's own needs, it still seems best for the player if he can continue his development in the North East.
Rather than being rushed back to Old Trafford where he would only have a reserve role to play, it makes far more sense for him to continue getting meaningful exposure at Sunderland and being the star man for a side that still harbours promotion ambitions.
It has taken him two years to get to this stage of his career, and if he is to make the next step-up, then he needs more time to be able to build upon those solid foundations.
Amad definitely has the ability to become a United player, but they can't rush it.
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