Cristiano Ronaldo and Diogo Dalot spent a full season together at Manchester United, but the forward told his compatriot that one of his team-mates could not stand it
Diogo Dalot says Cristiano Ronaldo did not evaluate Manchester United players specifically
Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed to Diogo Dalot that one of his Manchester United team-mates is “not available” at Old Trafford.
The Portuguese icon returned to the Premier League club for the second time in 2021, making a surprise move from Juventus during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tenure. Ronaldo was part of the team that won numerous league titles and the Champions League in his first stint.
In Ronaldo’s second spell, he joined a team that had failed to win a silver medal for years and was still trying to get back to the level of Sir Alex Ferguson’s era.
Many of their signings have not lived up to expectations, and Ronaldo quickly made it clear in a conversation with Dalot that the forward lacked the desire for long-term success.
“That season with Cristiano was when I really started to grow as a player and as a person. I lost count of how many times he got it right, because he knows what it takes to get to the top,” Dalot said in his eulogy.
“If someone skips a set in the gym, he’ll notice. We had a striker here who did great in the first season, but Cristiano said, ‘He won’t be here.’ I said, ‘Chris, he scored two goals today!'” He said, “Yeah, but he didn’t have the energy to go for the third.”
Dalot does not directly mention the player in question, and even the statistics from that season do not indicate who the player is. In Ronaldo’s first season back in Manchester, Bruno Fernandes was the only player other than back-to-back Ballon d’Or winners to score twice in a game in all competitions. He scored twice in a draw against Aston Villa in January.
That season, United’s strikers were Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood and Edinson Cavani.
Cristiano Ronaldo during his time at Manchester United (Image: PA)
Ronaldo is set to leave Manchester 18 months after his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan. He has since moved to Saudi Arabia, but is still playing into his 40s. The veteran will play in his sixth World Cup this summer with Portugal, but Dalot thinks it’s ridiculous that people are questioning his availability.
“For me, it’s completely crazy that there are people debating whether he should play in the World Cup or not. Is he running like a 22-year-old? No. Is he scoring a goal every game? Yes. He is. Does it make us all better? Yes. The guy is 41 years old. He doesn’t have to be there and play with guys so young that he can call them his kids, but he is. Every time you see him, you come away a little smarter.”
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