Manchester United undroppable could return earlier than expected and make transfer picture clearer

Amad knows how to get Manchester United fans going on social media and his Snapchat post this week raised hopes of a return before the end of the season, combining his own smiling face with the sand timer emoji.

It was initially thought that the ankle injury he sustained in training in February would rule him out for the rest of the season, but Ruben Amorim has since expressed hope he will be back sooner than that and Amad himself is clearly feeling confident about his rehabilitation.

It will be another positive moment for United as momentum builds under Amorim on the back of two stylish wins in a row and a run of just three defeats in 17 games this calendar year. Amad had been United's best player under the Portuguese head coach and his return would bring back some X-factor to an attack finally starting to click.

Amorim said earlier this month "I have the hope to have Amad before [the end of the season]", and that is now looking like a realistic possibility. United have nine relatively meaningless Premier League games left but they face Lyon in a Europa League quarter-final this month and will hope to extend their involvement to the semi-final and final as well.

Having Amad available for games of that magnitude will be a significant bonus, given the form he has displayed under Amorim. He scored six goals and provided five assists at a time when he was almost single-handedly carrying this side's attacking threat.

Recently, there has been an improvement in that regard, and the 4-1 win against Real Sociedad and 3-0 success at Leicester City before the international break showed that Amorim's 3-4-2-1 system was beginning to deliver more consistent results.

That breakthrough has come with more options at No. 10 as well.