Manchester United star Amad Diallo 'has to play' after his bright cameo off the bench against Arsenal on Sunday, according to Rio Ferdinand.
The Red Devils dominated proceedings at Old Trafford but ended up losing 1-0, with Riccardo Calafiori heading home the only goal of the game in the 13th minute.
Amad started on the bench for the match, with Diogo Dalot selected ahead of him.
Yet the Ivory Coast international was bright after coming on, with his pace and trickery causing all sorts of problems for Mikel Arteta's team.
Manchester United star Amad Diallo 'has to play' after his bright cameo off the bench against Arsenal on Sunday, according to Rio Ferdinand
|GETTY
Amad was one of United's best performers amid a disastrous campaign last time out.
And Ferdinand, speaking on his YouTube channel, has expressed a belief that the 23-year-old should be a regular starter for his own side.
“Amad came on second half and I think he did enough to show that against any team that you feel you’re going to dominate possession, he has to play," he said.
“I think he’ll even be sitting there, Amad, saying, ‘Play me against anybody, because I’ll get our team higher up the pitch and I can beat people.’
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“The way that Amorim plays you need people that are going to beat people with the ball or run beyond people and Amad can do both.
"It’s just, can he do it from a right wing-back position? If Man Utd do get pinned back at any time he’s playing, is he able to defend and cope defensively? They’re the question marks we’ve got.
“But if you set out to dominate the game possession-wise, Amad is an absolute must in this team. Whether it’s right wing-back or right wing, I think he has to play.
“I think over the last season and even in this one game here today, he’s shown that he’s got the confidence and the ability to be a game-changer.”
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Amad Diallo impressed off the bench during Man Utd's defeat to Arsenal on Sunday
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Though United lost, their display was an impressive one.
As well as Amad, the likes of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo impressed - while Matthijs de Ligt was strong at the back, with the Netherlands international successfully nullifying the threat of Arsenal new boy Viktor Gyokeres.
And Amorim was pleased with his side's performance, despite the fallen giants being unable to get anything from the contest.
"The most important thing - we weren't boring. I'm really proud of the guys. They were really brave in everything they did during the game," he said.
"Congratulations for the performance, but not congratulations [for the result] because we lost the game at home.
"We clearly deserved a different result and we need to move forward to the next one.
"We were more aggressive than last year, we sprinted more, we were braver, we went one against one for the whole game and we pressed high.
"With the ball, we have quality, even when the stadium makes some sound, we continued to play the way we play. We lost fewer balls in the build-up compared to last year, when we struggled a lot.
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Ruben Amorim insists he's proud of his Man Utd players despite their disappointing defeat to Arsenal | REUTERS"We need to win games but that was a completely different game to last season."
United are next in action against Fulham on Sunday (4.30pm).