Man United lose best player Amad to AFCON 2025: How does Amorim replace the irreplaceable?

Ivorian star Amad Diallo didn't just leave for the Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON 2025,  with a goal against Bournemouth, he left as Manchester United's most indispensable creative force. 

With the club's sixth most expensive ever signing Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon) and Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco) also departing, United's entire right flank has effectively vanished overnight, and Ruben Amorim is scrambling for answers.

The numbers tell the story: Amad has 64 shot-creating actions in the Premier League this season, second only to Manchester City’s Jeremy Doku among wide players. 

For a United side already leaking goals, losing that level of production during a brutal January run isn't just inconvenient, it's borderline catastrophic. The 4-4 draw with Bournemouth was a chaotic "last dance" for Amorim's preferred setup. Now, he must pivot fast.

Amorim has already hinted at a significant structural shift. In training, United have been drilling a 4-3-3 system, moving away from the back-three that defined his early tenure. Without Mazraoui's versatility and Amad's unique profile as a goal-scoring wing-back, the 3-4-3 simply lacks the personnel to function. 

A back four allows United to utilise traditional full-backs like Diogo Dalot and Patrick Dorgu without demanding they carry the entire attacking burden.

But there's a catch. As seen against Bournemouth, and reported by the Premier League, Amorim's ‘kamikaze 4-2-4 experiment’ left United dangerously exposed in transition. 

"Moving to a 4-2-4 formation, there was no 'secret' anymore," noted Premier League analysts. "This was Amorim's Man Utd playing with a back four. The result was constant transitional football, with as many four-on-fours at the Bournemouth end as the Man Utd end."

With Amad and Mbeumo responsible for a huge chunk of United's attacking play and end products on the right, the burden shifts to three specific players:

Mason Mount: Likely the biggest beneficiary of AFCON. Mount could slide into the starting XI as an advanced playmaker, tasked with replicating Amad's half-space creativity and link-up play with the strikers.

Matheus Cunha: While influential in build-up, Cunha's goal tally has been unexpectedly modest and miserly. With the primary scorers gone, Amorim needs the Brazilian to transform from a link guy into a predator.

Benjamin Sesko: Returning from a knee injury at the perfect time, Sesko will lead the line. His physicality is needed to turn desperate crosses into goals when the fluid interplay of Amad and Mbeumo is missing.

While this should not be a surprise, recent happenings at Old Trafford suggest this writer will be surprised to see Amorim turn to youth. 

Shea Lacey, the highly-rated 18-year-old, has been training with the first team and offers the same left-footed, inverted-winger profile as Amad. 

While a gamble, Amorim's (un)willingness to blood (more) young talent (after Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven) suggests Lacey could see significant minutes during the festive period.

United face a brutal run starting with an in-form Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Leeds United and a Manchester Derby in January. 

"We will try to find a solution with the players that we have. We are ready to cope. We will try to find a way to score goals in a different way," Amorim said.

The "different way" likely means more reliance on set-pieces (via Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes) and a more pragmatic, defensive-first approach to stop the bleeding witnessed in the Bournemouth thriller. 

Whether that's enough to survive the Amad vacuum remains the biggest question facing Manchester United this month.