Manchester United v Rangers: Amad Diallo’s rise from loan spell

Rangers played 29 games in Diallo’s time in Glasgow, he appeared in 13 of them and started just six. Celtic away was his second game.

That night was peak Ange Postecoglou at Celtic; 3-0 ahead at the break, and cruising. Players-turned-pundits lined up to kick Diallo in the aftermath – “a rabbit in the headlights”, “in the wrong movie”, “half-hearted”.

He did not reappear for the second half and now the brutal reality of how claustrophobic and unforgiving life can be if you are playing for the beaten half of the Old Firm hit him between the eyes.

“There was a big reaction to his performance that night and it was unwarranted,” recalls Davis. “We know what the goldfish bowl is like in Glasgow and when you don’t have a good performance, you’re the worst in the world.”

Arfield said he was troubled when Diallo came in for such stick at the time: “I didn’t think you could pin that defeat on him. We were miles off it as a team, all of us. But he seemed to come in for particular criticism. And I remember just thinking, ‘wow, this is a real welcome to Rangers’.”

The intensity was too much and Diallo faded away. Arfield, Aaron Ramsey, Joe Aribo and Scott Wright were all given time in his position. He got five minutes against Heart of Midlothian and 17 minutes against Dundee United.

Against United, he hit the post at 1-1. Had he squared it instead of going for goal, Rangers would have scored. They dropped points they could ill afford to drop that day.

Then, 23 minutes against Dundee, 27 minutes against St Mirren, half an hour against Motherwell, three minutes against Celtic. He was still only 19. Alien city, demanding club and now racism.

On Instagram he spoke about getting racist slurs and insults about his mother. He did not elaborate on where the abuse came from – in a stadium or online – but it was a grim period for him.

“As a practising Muslim I was raised differently and my education is to respect everyone,” he wrote.