Manchester United reveal Amad Diallo’s shirt number after teenage star arrives in UK

Diallo was pictured at United’s Aon Training Complex on Wednesday

Amad Diallo photographed at Manchester United’s training complex (Manchester United)

Amad Diallo has arrived in Manchester after he completed his move to Old Trafford last week. The teenager joins from Atalanta for an initial £18m on a four-and-a-half year deal, but had to wait in Rome for several days as his UK visa was processed.

United have revealed that Diallo, 18, will wear the No 19 shirt worn by Marcus Rashford and Dwight Yorke before him.

Diallo was pictured at United’s Aon Training Complex on Wednesday. 

“I’m over the moon to be here," Diallo said. "I’m so excited to start here at Manchester United. It’s a dream come true and I can’t wait to start and play with the guys.”

Born in the Ivory Coast’s Abidjan, Diallo moved to Italy aged 10 and shone for local club Boca Barco before he was signed by Atalanta aged 13. He quickly rose up the age groups until he was training with the senior squad at 16. “There are defenders in the first team that sometimes cannot stop him,” Atalanta captain Papu Gomez once said. “To stop him in training, we have to kick him! He plays like Messi.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revealed Diallo had been on United’s radar for some time.

“As a club, we have followed Amad for a number of years and having watched him myself, I believe he is one of the most exciting young prospects in the game," the manager said. “Manchester United has such a proud history of developing young players and everything is in place to enable Amad to reach his potential here.