Dalot’s versatility to also play as a left-back made him a valuable asset at the Premier League club.
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The transformation of Diogo Dalot from a squad player to a first-team regular is one of the biggest success stories of Manchester United lately. The 24-year-old full-back joined the club in 2018 and was always believed to be a future star. He showed plenty of promise but struggled to get game time at Old Trafford. The arrival of Aaron Wan-Bissaka made it even harder for the youngster to get minutes on the pitch.
This led to Diogo Dalot temporarily leaving Manchester United on loan to Serie A giants AC Milan. On his return to Old Trafford after the expiry of his loan spell, it was the same tune all over again, with Dalot struggling to bypass Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the starting XI. But credit to the Portuguese right-back for never giving up and constantly fighting for his place by working hard in training. He finally got his reward with regular game time over the last couple of years under different managers.
Dalot’s versatility to also play as a left-back made him a valuable asset at the Premier League club. Looking back at his journey, Dalot is proud of what he has managed till now. “I remember I was in a phase of [being] with injuries, with struggling to get minutes and to play and now, looking back to that and seeing the position that I am today, that’s what makes me proud. It’s not the way that I might be playing or what people might say about me, it’s just myself, inside of me,” Dalot told UTD Podcast.
He added: “I look back and I see, okay, I didn’t give up. And I remember that I told you that I was going to fight for my position and I was going to fight for that. And, sometimes, it’s just the way football is. The easiest way sometimes is to go away to, I don’t like to say give up because football has different paths and different ways. Sometimes, you’re just knocking on a door that’s not going to open. You have to go to another one. But I always felt that I could do something here. I could achieve something here, which I feel that I still can do even more. But that feeling at that moment to know that, okay, I have to. I cannot leave here without feeling that I can prove that I can play here for a while, or I can be a starter or whatever,” he explained.
Dalot then spoke about the importance of always trying to find his “best version” at the club. “And I’m happy to look back and see that progress and I fought for that. I mean I like to think that what this club brings you and you can see, not just me – other players – [have a] big mentality. When things are not going well and you just keep fighting, keep fighting, keep fighting. It’s just a matter of time for you to get the rewards and this club has this special thing of when it’s good, it makes you feel really, really special and it has the opposite [effect]. When things go wrong, it obviously makes you feel really bad. So you have to find that balance of always trying to be the best version,” he explained.
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