Amad praises Manchester United medical staff for helping him return before end of season

New York Times

19-05-2025

Amad has paid tribute to Manchester United's medical staff for helping his early recovery from the ankle injury that initially looked to have ended his season in February.
Head coach Ruben Amorim believed Amad would be sidelined until the summer, but the 22-year-old has said he kept believing he could return for the campaign climax and now he is in contention to start the Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur.
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'I'm so happy to be back before the end of the season,' he said. 'I want to help the team to win something at the end, and we will try to do our best in the final.'
Amad revealed he was pressing Andre Onana in training when he damaged his ankle ligaments. 'I think my left foot stayed on the grass and then turned,' he said. 'In that moment I knew it was something bad, I know I will miss some games, but I didn't know if my season was really over.
'So, after my operation I kept believing, I kept praying to be back before the end of the season. It's a good experience, you can learn a lot.
'I just tried every morning to do my best with the physios in the club, so they did a great job, a brilliant job for me, I want to thank them again. I'm always positive, I'm always smiling with everyone, so that's my natural thing. Now I'm back and I will try to do my best.'
Amad has shown his personality on social media, most strikingly in aftermath of United's dramatic 5-4 win over Lyon in the quarter-final when he was still working his way back to fitness. He took a dressing room selfie with Manuel Ugarte and Alejandro Garnacho, both of whom he jokingly attacked in the caption. 'You gaves us pain heart,' Amad wrote of Garnacho for a miss in the game.
'I was so happy,' Amad explained. 'Honestly, I'm a good guy with everyone. I just posted that tweet on my X. That was funny, no? We are really close. Garna. Kobbie (Mainoo), Leny (Yoro). I have good relationships with everyone. I have good energy, good vibes. Everyone likes to be with me.'
He does not have an assistant posting his messages: 'Yeah, it's me. Nobody (else), it's me. It's Amad.'
Amad's status among fans has grown this season due to his displays, and he now has 10 goals and nine assists in 41 appearances. He insisted the Erik ten Hag pushed him to high standards but admitted he had frustrations at times under the former United manager, most notably when sent on as a late substitute at Fenerbahce in October having been overlooked for Noussair Mazraoui at No 10 to start and Antony as the first attacking substitute.
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Ruud van Nistelrooy put his arm round Amad, who wore a stern expression before going onto the pitch. 'In that moment, I was a little bit frustrated because you can understand sometimes maybe you deserve to play and you don't play.
'But I think now it's because the manager believes in me. He believes in my potential. I'm trying to repay his confidence every time I'm on the pitch.
'Honestly, Erik helped me a lot. He was giving me a lot of advice, even when I wasn't playing. He was telling me to train very hard every time. That's the most important thing when a manager keeps telling you to train hard, even if you don't play. So I kept training very hard, very hard.
'I think this season, at the beginning, I was playing a lot with him. I want to thank him again for the opportunity he gave me, and I want to wish him all the best.'
Amad is hoping he can make it third time lucky in a Europa League final. He was an unused substitute in United's loss to Villarreal in 2021 and Rangers' defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt the following year. Both matches went to penalties.
'Yes, I already lost two. I hope to win this one. It was a good experience for me to be in my first Europa League final with the team. I was on the bench. I was young. At the time, we had great players like (Paul) Pogba and (Edinson) Cavani. It was a dream for me, honestly, but now it's my moment.
'It's the moment for the club, for the players, for the fans, they deserve this moment. We will give everything to try and win this competition.'