Diogo Dalot has hailed the influence of Italian legend Paolo Maldini on his career and how his 2018 loan move to AC Milan aided his Manchester United career.
The Portuguese full-back signed for the Red Devils from Porto as an 18-year-old in 2018 and after two seasons as a bit-part player, where injuries and competition from Aaron Wan-Bissaka limited his first-team minutes, he joined AC Milan on loan for the 2020/21 campaign.
This allowed the defender to play regular football and he also had the benefit of being in regular contact with Paolo Maldini, the iconic Milan defender who had returned to the club as technical director.
“I played loads of minutes, which I needed, as I’d not played regularly for almost a year and a half,” Dalot tells FourFourTwo. “Culturally it was important, too – to play in another league and learn a new language. Milan is a cool city, but because of COVID, most things were closed.”
Maldini’s role as technical director meant that the former Italy skipper was not on the training pitch, but he was still able to offer valuable insight for Dalot at that stage of his career.
“He’s a cool guy and his presence as a director was good for us. He was close to the players, but knew his boundaries. He wouldn’t step into the manager’s decisions and contradict him, but he’d say, “You’re playing well but you could do this better.”
“Sometimes it wasn’t just technical advice, but mental messages, like, “Be more patient” or “Try to focus on this situation”. When I arrived, he spoke to me in English, but I asked him to speak to me in Italian as I improved.”
Dalot returned to Old Trafford after his season in Milan and quickly established himself in the Red Devils starting line-up and he believes that his loan move helped him mature on and off the pitch.
"I came back more confident but only started to play more when Ralf Rangnick arrived,” he continues. “The end of that season, when we finished badly, was my lowest point as a United player and we felt a bit hopeless.
“When Erik ten Hag arrived, things improved and I continued to play. Off the field, I was settled in Manchester after returning from Milan: my first year in 2018 had not been easy because the weather was so different to Portugal. That was a bit of a shock, as life there is usually outside.
“I was away from friends too, so I had to build new relationships and meet new people, which takes time. But now I have good friends here – from the team, I’m friends with Antony, Casemiro, Licha [Lisandro Martinez] and Bruno, plus David de Gea when he was here.”
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