Sunderland hope to continue United relationship
Amad was the latest Manchester United loanee to enjoy a successful spell at Sunderland, helping the Black Cats reach the Championship promotion play-offs.
The Ivory Coast international top scored in the league for Tony Mowbray's men and, when we caught up with the Stadium of Light boss during the season, he revealed his hopes that the relationship between the clubs can continue in the future.
Jonny Evans (in two spells under Roy Keane) and Danny Welbeck have previously had stints on Wearside that can rank among the best loan moves for Reds in the Premier League era. Amad's spell is certainly part of that conversation now as well, as the 20-year-old matured throughout the campaign, and benefited from playing in front of big, passionate crowds.
As Sunderland prepare to mount another challenge for promotion in 2023/24, Mowbray has admitted he does like the sort of profile of player that Manchester United's Academy consistently produces.
Making an impact on loan
Watch this compilation of some of the best attacking moments from our loanees in 2022/23...
When asked about the connection between the clubs, and how Sunderland can be a good grounding for any youngster, Mowbray replied: "I think so. I hope we can keep a close relationship with United, if they need to loan young players out.
"It’s amazing really, I’ve been in management a long time, like you’ve said, and even the likes of Joe Rothwell, who I had at Blackburn, came through the United ranks [Joe is now with Bournemouth in the Premier League].
"Whether they never made it to the first-team level, they all were bedded through and came through that system really.
"I think the game is littered with Manchester United players who came through their system, through their Academy system, and generally what you know is you get grounded, talented footballers who know what to do with the football. They know how to deal with the ball.
"When I’m looking for players, I always look to see what their background is, where they were brought up and the core values of what their football brain is about. You never really fall short with Manchester United players, whether they made it at first-team level or not as, generally, they’ve all been brought up properly.”
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