EPL
Diogo Dalot: The making of a quality right-back
Two years ago, Diogo Dalot wasn’t known by any United fan, player or board member. The youngster was in Portugal making name for himself.
The player’s fame was steadily rising as he continued with his stellar performance for Porto’s youth team.
As result of his regular and wonderful showings at the right side of defence, the youngster was promoted to the Primera side. A step forward for the player in his young career.
Porto’s first-team
As a young player who recently joined the senior squad, it wasn’t a big disappointment to sit on the bench for many matches.
Dalot was learning the trade from the senior players in the team, though, he wasn’t given the chance to put all he has learnt into test in a competitive match.
After the long wait, the 19-year-old eventually made his first-team debut last season against Lusitano G.C. in a game that ended 6-0 in their favour.
Despite spending most of last season at the sideline, the youngster was able to feature for six first-team matches.
Dalot move to the greater height
Irrespective of his inability to feature prominently for the Portuguese giants, Dalot managed to attract interest from top clubs including Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Bayern Munich.
Unfortunately for the youngster, he picked up a longterm injury prior to the end of last season and that made many suitors cooled their desire to sign the right-back.
Having seen watched him play on different occasions, Manchester United manager José Mourinho was very much convinced of Dalot’s quality hence, he didn’t terminate his interest in his compatriot.
He pushed through with his desire to lure the youngster to Old Trafford during the summer transfer market. After many weeks of negotiations with his former club, José Mourinho finally reached a £19m deal for Dalot’s signature.
Dalot at Old Trafford
Since his move to Old Trafford, the 19-year-old has been developing quite impressively. He picked up a four-month during the pre-season tour and he was denied the chance to lay claim for a place in the team’s starting lineup at the start of the campaign.
After returning back to full fitness, the youngster wasn’t rushed back into the first-team, instead, Mourinho sent his compatriot to the U-23 side for a regular game time and action so as to regain his perfect shape and form.
He encountered another injury problem while he was in action for his country during the last international break, however, it was a minor one as he returns to action in after just a week.
So far, he has played three competitive games with the Red Devils and he performed wonderfully well much to the pleasure of his manager.
In Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Fulham, the young Portuguese started at the right-back position ahead of Luke Shaw.
He was just too hot for the Cottagers at the right flank, he dashed forward in many occasions, delivering beautiful crosses into opponent’s box.
His impressive display during the game sent Twitter into total meltdown as fans couldn’t help but praise the youngster.
They believe Dalot is the right-back that has been missing in the team for many seasons. They tipped him for great success at Old Trafford.
On his part, Mourinho admitted the player’s quality and tipped him to remain at Old Trafford for the next ten years.
According to him, the teenager is the best right-back the club will see in the next decade and he’s happy to have pushed through his decision to buy him against all odds.
