Diallo was only 21, so he had a lot on his plate, but his performance showed little of it. Perhaps it was the blissful ignorance of youthful exuberance, a freedom brought about by boldness, that allowed him to dart up and down the left flank with abandon.

Perhaps the low stakes of a preseason friendly in front of a half-capacity crowd alleviated the pressure. Whatever the reason, this didn’t look like a man who had just started his “first day at the office” in NR1 on Monday. However, the flare took some time to settle into a solid appearance.

Diallo’s first few minutes were representative of and dictated by the game’s themes: scrappy and battling, with defensive running being more important than anything else.

It took until the 15th minute for a truly significant contribution, and even then it wasn’t particularly positive. Bearing down on goal, he had almost the entire thing to shoot at after Jack Stacey’s low cross found him in space 10 yards out, but a combination of poor communication with Josh Sargent and snatching at the shot resulted in it being scuffed well wide.

Even if the outcome isn’t encouraging, Ricky van Wolfswinkel’s saved one-on-one against Panathinaikos in a similar context in 2013 serves as a reminder. At the very least, the wide man was making an impression rather than fading into the background, as so many new signings do.

Oddly, it seemed to fuel his efforts rather than deter them, with purposeful dribbles becoming a regular feature in the final 30 minutes of his valuable half-hour of football.

Again, the end result was diverse, but there was the traditional feel of an exciting dribbling winger as those in the City Stand cautiously rose from their well-heated seats.

Diallo’s dribbling got fans out of their seats. (Image by Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd.) One such occasion ended with some clever footwork and a ball inside to Amankwah Forson, which the Ghanaian lost, followed by a confident brush of the outside of the foot in an unusual low cross.

Diallo gave the impression of being unafraid to try new things, and Manning’s post-match statement that he prefers not to “produce robots” indicates that this should not change. Nonetheless, further refinement is required.

Though not as raw as some of the player projects launched in recent years, Diallo believes he is still a long way from realising his famously high potential.

In many ways, this is a positive for City, but it conflicts with the urgent Premier League goal that drives many of their short-term decisions. Combining his natural flair and imagination with his boss’s tactical direction will be critical to extracting the best from him, but many of the aforementioned obstacles prevented the former Bristol City manager from doing so.

However, the transfer business indicates that he believes he can do so in a relatively short period of time.

The first backup to arrive is £1.2 million man Jovon Makama, who is Diallo’s age and has never played above League One level. Any additional additions will be delayed until later in the window, and they will almost certainly be Premier League loans.

Given the options on the left, he may well be City’s first choice next season, which is a significant amount of responsibility for a 21-year-old in the midst of a promotion push.

It has been done before, and nothing in the first 45 minutes indicated that it couldn’t be done again.Consider the alternatives on the left and that may well mean that he’s City’s first choice next season, and that is a significant weight of responsibility for a 21-year-old amid a promotion push.

It’s been done before, however, and nothing in this first 45 minutes suggested it couldn’t be again.

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