Diogo Dalot has revealed Cristiano Ronaldo told him a Manchester United striker ‘won’t make it’ during his second spell at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo made a sensational return to United in the summer of 2021 after threatening to join their local rivals Manchester City.
The Portugal legend established himself as one of the best players in the world during his first spell at United, helping Sir Alex Ferguson win three Premier League titles and the Champions League.
Ronaldo also won the Ballon d’Or while at Manchester United, an award he would claim a further four times during his legendary spell at Real Madrid.
All the World Cup action
Get everything you need to know about the World Cup – England updates, the games to watch and stories you missed – in five minutes, at 1pm, every day. Sign up here.
United fans were understandably excited for Ronaldo’s return but the move did not go to plan and he left after just 18 months having scored 27 goals in 54 games.
While Ronaldo did not have a monumental impact on the pitch, he helped several of his teammates including his fellow compatriot Dalot.
Dalot ‘learned so much’ from Ronaldo and says he ‘lost count’ of the number of predictions the veteran striker got right during his spell at Manchester United.
‘My idol turned out to be one of the best people I’ve ever met,’ Dalot said of Ronaldo in a piece for The Players’ Tribune. ‘We would talk for hours in the hotel, in the gym, at the dinner table.
‘Around that time, I liked Milan so much that I thought maybe we could make something work. They really wanted me, and I also had meetings with other clubs.
‘One day I got a text from Cristiano. “Kid, stay. I’m coming back to Manchester.” He was saying that United is the best club in the world, that we would get back to the top if only we changed a few things.
‘He was going to help me and we’d play a lot of games together. I talked to my agent. I talked to Claudia. Mourinho wanted me there for 10 years. How could we leave after two?
‘That season with Cristiano was when I really started to grow as a player and as a person. I lost count of the number of predictions he got right, because he knows so well what it takes to go to the top.
‘If anyone skipped a set in the gym, he would notice. We had a striker here who did really well for us in his first season, but Cristiano said, “He’s not gonna make it here.”
‘I said, “Cris, he scored two goals today!” He said, “Yeah, but he didn’t have the fire to go for the third.” When your rival is Messi, nothing is ever enough.
‘I learned so much from Cristiano. Another time we were having lunch before playing Young Boys in the Champions League group stage, and he said, “I’m so nervous.”
‘The guy had won the tournament five times, but he wanted his sixth so badly. I honestly thought he was joking, but then I looked down, and his right leg was trembling under the table.
‘He could process anything in three hours. One time he was benched at United, and he just couldn’t handle it. He was shouting and cursing.
‘I’m like, “Cris, you OK?” He said, “Give me three hours.” Three hours later, he was calm. He said, “Yeah, I’m angry. But do you think this will affect the rest of my day?”
‘Even now, when I see him at the national team, he’ll go, “Diogo, I’m trying something new.” A medical device. A recovery treatment. A mental model.
‘We call them mechanisms. “Yo, Cris, new mechanisms. What have you got for me?”’
Ronaldo, now 41, is preparing to feature in his sixth World Cup with Portugal.
There has been some debate over whether Ronaldo should be part of Portugal’s squad or start under Roberto Martinez but Dalot says those talks are ‘totally crazy’.
‘To me, it’s totally crazy that anyone could even debate whether he should play at the World Cup,’ Dalot, who is still at Manchester United, added.
‘Is he running like he’s 22? No. Is he scoring a goal per game? Yes. Does he make us all better? Yes. The guy is 41. He doesn’t need to be there, playing with people who are young enough to be his kids, but he is.
‘Every time you meet him, you leave a little wiser. After I met Cristiano, my goal was not just to work as much as possible, but to stay in the best possible state mentally and physically.’
Ronaldo has scored a record 143 goals in 227 international games. Portugal are in World Cup Group K alongside DR Congo, Colombia and Uzbekistan.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.