One of the big success stories of Manchester United's season has been Diogo Dalot finally coming into his own under Erik ten Hag. Signed by Jose Mourinho, the Portuguese full-back never seemed to get a real chance under the manager which continued under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but he is now invaluable to the squad.
Mourinho said when he signed the right-back: “I don’t want to compare, especially not the number of titles. But he is probably the same age as Gary Neville when he came into the first team. Probably he can follow Neville in this dynamic of more than 10 years as United’s right-back, with amazing conditions to improve, because as I was saying he’s 19 years old.
“He has all the attributes that a full-back needs. Physicality, tactical intelligence and technical quality, combined with a Porto Academy mentality which prepares players for the maturity they need at the professional level.
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He added to the end of his assessment of Dalot : “In his age group, he is the best full-back in Europe. And we all believe he has a bright future ahead of him at Manchester United.”
Now that bright future at United has finally arrived. Dalot has improved defensively, putting the memories of Arnaut Danjuma tearing him apart in the Champions League at Old Trafford far behind him.
Going forward he has also improved, consistently progressing the ball up the pitch and restarting attacks. However, he still needs to work on his crossing and there are situations where he doesn't commit himself enough to provide support for his right winger.
There is a risk though that United could undermine their good work by running Dalot into the ground. Ten Hag currently has no other options at right-back, bar playing Tyrell Malacia out of position and this means that the Portuguese full-back has played most of the minutes available to him.
Given the fixture congestion that has been caused by the winter World Cup in Qatar, this could cause Dalot to tire or worse get injured and therefore leave United in the lurch.
United fans will find out what it is like to not have Dalot available for their visit to Fulham on Sunday, the last match before the World Cup - and they will see why it is a necessity for the club to sign another option in the right-back spot in January.
Some may ask 'Well what about Aaron Wan-Bissaka?' but it is clear that Ten Hag doesn't trust the defender to play the style of football he wants to implement given he has only played four minutes so far this season. It was recently reported that United are willing to listen to offers for him in January.
If Wan-Bissaka was to move on, this would open the door for a new player. Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen has been linked by reports in Europe and he would certainly play the style of football that Ten Hag wants, but given he is 21 years old and has a contract until 2025, he would likely cost a lot and that would call into question whether the club can consider him a rotation option.
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