Amad could solve Manchester United transfer demand with new role vs Leeds

The first pre-season friendly of the summer is usually little more than a glorified kick-about, a chance to shake the excesses of the summer out of the legs and ease your way back into something resembling competitive football.

None of the Manchester United squad that have travelled to Oslo for the pre-season game with Leeds today will expect to play more than 45 minutes as they continue to build up fitness ahead of the first weekend of the Premier League campaign, which is still more than a month away.

But the easy routine of these mid-July games is generally most applicable to those senior players whose status for next season is confirmed. For the younger members of United's travelling party opportunity knocks and for Amad, this is the starting gun on what is almost a trial period to earn a first-team spot for next season.

It's too early for judgements just yet, but you can be sure Erik ten Hag and his coaches are already running the rule over the forward at Carrington. Contributions in training will be just as valuable as performances in friendlies this summer for Amad, who turned 21 yesterday.

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His situation is similar to that of James Garner, who returned from a hugely successful Championship loan a year ago with the intention of forcing his way into Ten Hag's plans. Instead, he was sold to Everton as he failed to leave a mark on the first-team squad, although injury didn't help him.

Amad returns to Old Trafford with a higher potential ceiling than Garner. United spent €20million on the winger three years ago and there's another €21million in add-ons that could eventually be due to Atalanta. He was one of the most highly-rated