Manchester United made a move on the final day of the summer transfer window, signing four players before Monday night’s deadline.
Alex Telles, Edinson Cavani and Facundo Pellistri will all arrive at Carrington to join with the rest of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first-team squad.
The fourth signing however, Amad Diallo, will have to wait until January to make an impression on his new coaches.
United completed a deal to sign the highly-rated winger from Atalanta in a deal worth an initial £18million.
The Red Devils revealed they have been scouting the Ivorian for the last four years after spotting him in an Under-15 fixture.
With just a handful of senior minutes under his belt, Diallo is a player that few will have the experience of seeing.
However, the blue side of Manchester have already witnessed the winger’s talents first-hand.
Last season, City’s U19 side took on Atalanta’s youth team in the UEFA Youth League. In the first fixture in October of last year, Diallo shone in Bergamo during a 3-1 win.
He helped to create the Italian side’s first goal, as he dominated a City defence including the likes of Barcelona target Eric Garcia.
Diallo capped off a superb all-round display by netting Atalanta’s third goal in the closing stages.
Despite playing just 18 minutes for Atalanta’s senior side, the 18-year-old has already earned admirers from his more established colleagues.
Atalanta striker Papu Gomez described Diallo’s training performances as Messi-esque, suggesting he is unstoppable with the ball at his feet.
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"He’s a future star, trust me," Gomez said. "During our training sessions he plays like Messi! You can’t stop him, he’s unbelievable, our centre-backs have serious problems when he is on the pitch. He’s fantastic."
And although that assessment could be going overboard, Manchester Evening News did confirm that like teams do with Messi, City coaches focused the entirety of the gameplan in the reverse fixture on stopping Diallo.
That didn’t work either for City, with Atalanta running out 1-0 winners in Manchester to top their group.
Solskjaer will be disappointed to miss out on his top target Jadon Sancho, but the arrivals of Pellistri and Diallo's emergence in 2021, could help fill the gap.
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