Manchester United forward Amad has opened up about his “dream” of following in the footsteps of fellow countrymen Didier Drogba and Yaya Touré.
Last week, it emerged that Amad had been named in a 10-man shortlist for the CAF Player of the Year award.
While he has experienced a mixed spell at United, Amad has been outstanding for his national team, particularly excelling in the Africa Cup of Nations and the FIFA World Cup finals. The Ivorian scored three goals at AFCON in December and January, helping his country reach the quarter-finals of the competition.
Amad struck the winner for the Elephants against Ecuador at the World Cup in North America and came close to salvaging something against Norway, but his electric cameo was ultimately not enough, despite scoring their only goal in the 2-1 defeat.
The CAF Player of the Year award, which crowns the best African footballer, has only ever been won by two Ivory Coast internationals in the past: Drogba and Touré.
Speaking to club media, Amad expressed a clear desire to join this prestigious list.
“Dream”
Amad said, “I’m so proud. Honestly, it’s something that I wish to win one day in my life because I used to dream when Drogba and Yaya Toure were playing for my country and they won the African Player of the Year.”
“So it is something that I dream to win one day. Today, I have the privilege to be in the list of 10 players that they have [announced].”
| Stat | Premier League | UEFA Champions League | All competitions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Competition | Premier League | UEFA Champions League | All competitions |
| Apps | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Minutes | 370 | 144 | 514 |
| Starts | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Sub appearances | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-penalty goals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Assists | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Goals + assists | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Minutes per goal | – | – | – |
| xG (PL) | 1.09 | – | 1.09 |
| xA (PL) | 0.23 | – | 0.23 |
| xG + xA (PL) | 1.32 | – | 1.32 |
| Avg rating | 6.34 | 6.91 | 6.56 |
| Shots | 11 | 3 | 14 |
| Shots on target | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Shot accuracy % | 36.4% | 66.7% | 42.9% |
| Conversion % | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Passes | 113 | 64 | 177 |
| Accurate passes | 98 | 58 | 156 |
| Stat | Premier League | UEFA Champions League | All competitions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pass accuracy % | 86.7% | 90.6% | 88.1% |
| Key passes | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Dribbles attempted | 12 | 15 | 27 |
| Dribbles completed | 7 | 8 | 15 |
| Dribble success % | 58.3% | 53.3% | 55.6% |
| Tackles | 9 | 4 | 13 |
| Interceptions | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Tackles + interceptions | 11 | 5 | 16 |
| Blocks | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Duels | 36 | 27 | 63 |
| Duels won | 21 | 15 | 36 |
| Duels won % | 58.3% | 55.6% | 57.1% |
| Dribbled past | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fouls won | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Fouls committed | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Offsides | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Yellow cards | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties won | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties conceded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
“But I mean the rest of the players are good players, they also had good seasons, so I am proud of myself.”
He added, “Of course, when you want to bring also this joy to the Ivory Coast fans, to tell them Yaya Toure and Drogba won that African Footballer of the Year so the new generation can do that. The new generation can win.”
“We want to give them the belief that this new generation can do more. We have good players in this new generation – [Yan] Diomande at Real Madrid and [Christ Inao] Oulai at Fiorentina.”
“Many players. I hope all of these players can, one day, win the best Player of the Year of Africa.”
Drogba won the CAF Player of the Year award twice, while Touré won it four consecutive times between 2011 and 2014.
Featured image Michael Reaves/Getty Images
