Tony Mowbray opens up on his Amad talks with Manchester United - and Sunderland's one reason to dream of return

The forward, who has scored 12 goals in a superb campaign, could play his last game for the club at Preston North End on Monday.

Manchester United's loan manager Les Parry visited Wearside this week and after Erik ten Hag gave some consideration to recalling the 20-year-old in the January window, he seems certain to be given a good chance to impress.

Mowbray has long said that he expects Amad either to breakthrough at Old Trafford or secure a big move to a top European side, and the player himself spoke of his dream being to become a regular at Manchester United in a recent interview with FourFourTwo magazine.

The one potential trump card Sunderland have is that if United do decide another loan is the best avenue, the fan favourite would be very keen on the Stadium of Light being the destination.

In all likelihood, Sunderland will have to win promotion to the Premier League for that to stand any realistic chance of seeing that come to fruition.

The Black Cats will have to plan for a season without the hugely-talented youngster but United know they would be very keen on having him back.

"They know how hugely successful this loan has been, on the back of a not so successful one," Mowbray said of his talks with Parry this week.

"Ultimately, it will be ten Hag's decision. These clubs have a lot of players on loan and they're either blooding them to go back and play for Man United, or they are building a value in them so that someone comes and offers £10 million or however much it may be for them. If they do that with a few players, all of a sudden the money is there to go and get that superstar from Juventus or wherever who goes into that first team.

"That's how I see his situation. Listen, it would be great if we could say 'he's done really well here, let's keep that story going for another year'. I think the kid would happily come back here, he's enjoying it, all the players are of a similar age, they respect him and the fans love him, he plays every week and he scores. What's not to like about that? Well, he has a Man United salary at this moment [rather than a Sunderland one].

"At this moment, I expect him to go on the pre-season tour with Manchester United and then they will decide what the best thing is for him to do next. Let's hope the phone rings sometime in July. "

Amad has now made 39 appearances in all competitions during his loan spell, and is the club's top scorer in the Championship. He also has four league assists, a total bettered in the squad only by Alex Pritchard and Jack Clarke, who has a hugely impressive tally of 11.