Man United youngster Amad has not been seen on a pitch since picking up an injury on the USA pre-season tour.
Some positive news from the treatment room at Carrington about Manchester United youngster Amad has emerged.
Amad has not played since picking up a knee injury in a pre-season friendly against Arsenal in New York on July 23, but he's now returned to full training after spending six weeks doing individual work on grass. The 21-year-old was hopeful of breaking into the first-team after his excellent loan with Sunderland and pre-season was his opportunity to audition for a role before injury forced him to fly home.
The 21-year-old started in the opening pre-season games against Leeds in Oslo and Lyon in Edinburgh and he was substituted at half-time in each of those appearances, as Erik ten Hag made wholesale changes to his side. The whole purpose of summer friendlies is to build match fitness and although there were glimmers of Amad's in the 90 minutes he played, a conclusion about whether he was ready for the first-team couldn't be made.
There were conversations had about Amad's future after his loan with Sunderland and it was undecided whether he'd leave on loan again or be kept around the first-team before the team travelled to the USA.
United staff believed Amad needed a run of consistent games to prove himself last season and to his credit, he did exactly that by becoming a Sunderland fan favourite and improving his output in the final third.
Amad contributed 14 goals and four assists for Sunderland and among those were stunning strikes against Preston and Luton Town, which were important goals as the Black Cats put together a bid for promotion before ultimately falling short in the play-off semi-finals.
Although the golden rule in football is to never fall in love with a loan player, Sunderland supporters considered Amad worth the breakup heartbreak and they were crestfallen to see him return to United.
Many Sunderland fans dreamt of another spell with Amad this season and, despite still being a Championship club, it seems likely any temporary offer made in the January transfer window could be considered.
Amad thoroughly enjoyed his 12 months on loan with Sunderland and manager Tony Mowbray, who built a young squad during his time at the club, was key for his development and helped him settle.
The problem for Amad is Mowbray has been sacked by Sunderland, which means he'd be joining a completely different environment if he agreed to another spell, should an offer come in the January window.
Before the window opens, Amad's target will be to earn a role in United's first-team squad, but a loan away for regular senior minutes would be the logical option if that doesn't happen across the next six weeks.
The games come thick and fast during the hectic festive period and Amad should be given opportunities from the bench considering Ten Hag has complained about the schedule and needs to rotate his players.
It will be fascinating to see whether Amad can make an impact when given the chance because he last played for United in the 2021/22 season and he's improved all aspects of his game since then.
There is a shortage of right-wingers at United and Amad might be able to provide competition for Antony