Sunderland handed major January boost as Manchester United make Amad loan decision

The winger was again in outstanding form on Sunday, voted as Sky Sports' man of the match as he scored in the 2-0 win over Middlesbrough.

The Echo understands that while United had the option to bring the 20-year-old back to Old Trafford this month, they had to do so by a certain date and that has now passed.

It means that the in-form forward, who now has seven goals this season, will be staying until the end of the campaign.

From there it looks increasingly likely that he will get the chance to stake a claim for first-team football under Erik ten Hag, so impressive has he been in recent weeks.

Mowbray revealed after the win over Middlesbrough that he had held talks with Manchester United this week, and made clear that he believes he does have the chance to make a future impact at the highest level.

"I had a long chat with Les Parry about him this week, I think he's got the talent to play for Man Utd," Mowbray said.

"The question is whether he's got the personality to play there and break through that ceiling. He had a disappointing loan at Rangers last year but I couldn't pick a team without him right now.

"The ball sticks to his foot, he sees every pass and works really hard. We've worked hard on getting him to shoot more regularly, and so I can see his belief and his personality growing.

"The hope is he goes back to Man Utd, does what he does and finds himself around their team. He'll get opportunities I bet in pre-season and then it's down to him.

"I've managed players like Harvey Elliott at Blackburn - he's a similar talent, plays with his head up.

"The ball is so easy for Amad, he doesn't have to think because he can just kill it dead and he sees the pass straight away. It's unbelievable how clever he is with the football. The talent will never be a problem for Amad. I'll be really interested to see how he goes."