Future Watch: Amad Diallo Soccer Cards, Manchester United – When an 18-year old with only 24 minutes of first-team league experience signs with a monster club like Manchester United on a five-year contract worth up to €41 million (approximately $46 million USD), you immediately take notice. That’s what happened to the now 19-year old Ivorian phenom Amad Diallo last October… welcome to Amad’s 
ascension.
Diallo, who legally changed his last name from Traoré to Diallo and prefers to be known mononymously as Amad, should be on every soccer card prospector’s radar. He’s a young, raw prodigy, who has an exciting, impactful skillset and is being developed by one of the top football clubs in the world. At 5-foot-8, 159 pounds, Diallo is a naturally left-footed winger, who possesses outstanding awareness on the pitch and is electrifying with the ball in his possession. His uncanny balance, quick feet, and technical skills have led to the lofty comparison to football legend, Lionel Messi.
While Diallo’s roots are in the Ivory Coast (known as Côte d’Ivoire and located on the south coast of West Africa), where he plays for their national team, he moved to Italy as a pre-teen with his brother. The move to Italy gave Diallo the ability to showcase his talents, and it didn’t take long for teams to recognize his gifts. He decided to settle in Atalanta, which is located in northern Italy, when he was 15 years old and dominated at the youth level mostly against older competition.
Diallo spent five years with Atalanta’s youth and senior systems and was a two-time Italian Youth Champion and Supercoppa Winner. During his two-year stint in the Italian Primavera (U-19) League, Diallo netted 12 goals and nine assists in 39 games. In 2019, during his professional debut for the senior team, Diallo became the first player born in 2002 to score in the Serie A.
As successful as Diallo was in Italy, his time there ended up being controversial. This past February, he was found guilty of violating the Italian Sports Justice Code and was accused of falsifying documents to immigrate into Italy. Ultimately, Diallo requested a plea bargain and was fined.
Since arriving at Old Trafford through the lucrative deal with Atalanta, Diallo has dealt with injuries and struggled to find his place with the first-team. He’s been relegated to the reserve squad (U-23) and has made only eight first-team appearances with the Red Devils. In those eight appearances, Diallo contributed one goal and one assist. His lone goal with the first-team came on his first shot – a header against AC Milan this past March. While on the reserve team, Diallo has shown his incredible potential in five appearances and recorded six goals and four assists.
The arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho has made it even more challenging for Diallo to break through to Man United’s first-team. The numbers game on the roster and financially could make Diallo expendable during the transfer window in January. One team rumored to be seriously interested is FC Barcelona.
There’s no denying the talent and upside of Diallo, but the most important aspect for him is to land in the right situation with a great opportunity to play on the first-team. Whether he’s with Manchester United or another team, first-team action will catapult his career, as well as his soccer card market moving forward.
Future Watch: Amad Diallo Soccer Cards, Manchester United – Cards Worth Chasing
If you’re looking to get in on Diallo’s cards, there are not a lot to choose from on the current sports card market. However, the cards available are shockingly affordable considering his potential.
SHOP THE CURRENT SPORTS CARD MARKET FOR AMAD DIALLO CARDS
Currently, Diallo’s most popular rookie card is his 2020-21 Topps Chrome X Steve Aoki UEFA Champions League Neon Future #NF-ADL. This particular release was a Topps online exclusive and was a collaboration with Aoki, who put his colorful spin on the release. With a refractor and various serial numbered parallels of different colors available, it’s the rookie card that collectors favor.
Another popular rookie card of Diallo is his 2020-21 Topps Now UEFA Europa League #001. The card commemorates his first goal on his first shot with Manchester United against AC Milan on March 11, 2021. It was an extremely popular card when Topps made it available and had a print run of 20,347. How popular was Diallo’s card compared to others in the set? The player who had the next highest print run in the set was Diallo’s teammate, Mason Greenwood, whose card had a print run of 2,080.
One more card to consider is Diallo’s 2020-21 Stadium Club Chrome UEFA Champions League #70. With Stadium Club, the photography is always top-notch, and they captured a nice, up-close profile shot of Diallo leaning against a Manchester United branded wall. This card also has some great looking parallels, including Aqua/Green Electric Refractors (/150), Green/Yellow Electric Refractors (/75), Orange/Blue Electric Refractors (/10), Red Refractors (/5), Red/Orange Electric Refractors (/4) and Superfractors (/1).
For those interested in Diallo’s first release, it was a sticker card from 2019-20 Panini Calciatori #27. The card was printed prior to Diallo’s last name change and lists his name as Amad Traoré. The set was produced by the Panini Group, which is located in Italy and the parent company of Panini America.
Future Watch: Amad Diallo Soccer Cards, Manchester United – Stats
Statistical image was generated on FlashScore.com as of 12/7/2021.
Future Watch: Amad Diallo Soccer Cards, Manchester United – Resources
- Secondary Market Pricing
- Beckett Card Catalog
- FBref.com Player Profile
- Diallo on Instagram
- Diallo on Twitter
Future Watch: Amad Diallo Soccer Cards, Manchester United – Image Gallery
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