Diogo Dalot shares that Cristiano Ronaldo once told him a Man Utd teammate wouldn’t succeed.
Diogo Dalot shared a story about Cristiano Ronaldo once telling him that a Manchester United striker wouldn’t succeed at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo made a surprising come back to United in August 2021, a move that grabbed everyone’s attention when he returned from Juventus. That summer, the club had already spent big money on Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane, hoping to bring back the winning spirit after struggling to match the success of Sir Alex Ferguson’s teams.
In his first season back, Ronaldo scored 24 goals in all competitions, but United finished sixth, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked in November 2021. Many new signings didn’t quite hit the mark. Dalot revealed that Ronaldo could see early on that one striker wouldn’t last at the club.
Dalot wrote in the Players Tribune, “That season with Cristiano was when I really grew, both as a player and as a person. He made so many spot-on predictions because he knows what it takes to be the best. If anyone skipped a gym session, he noticed immediately. We had a striker who did well in his first season, but Cristiano said, ‘He’s not going to make it here.’ I said, ‘But he scored two goals today!’ He replied, ‘Yeah, but he didn’t have the fire to go for a third.’”
Dalot didn’t say who the striker was, but the forwards at the time were Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood, and Edinson Cavani. The only other player besides Ronaldo who scored two goals that season was Bruno Fernandes, who has become one of the club’s greatest players.
After a dramatic interview with Piers Morgan and a public fallout with manager Erik ten Hag, Ronaldo left Manchester United after just 18 months. Now, at 41, he’s heading to his sixth World Cup with Portugal.
Dalot thinks anyone questioning Ronaldo’s place in the squad is totally off. He said, “It’s crazy that people even debate if he should be at the World Cup. Is he running like he’s 22? No. Is he scoring goals like crazy? Yes. Does he help the whole team? Absolutely. He’s 41 and he doesn’t have to be there playing with much younger players, but he is. Every time you meet him, you walk away smarter.”
Portugal will start their World Cup journey on June 17 against DR Congo.