Cristiano Ronaldo always knew Diogo Dalot was a good player (Picture: Getty)
Rio Ferdinand has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo told him not to worry about Diogo Dalot when he raised concerns over the Manchester United star.
Dalot has been in impressive form for the Red Devils and Ferdinand has praised the 24-year-old full-back for his recent performances.
But former United defender Ferdinand was not always convinced by Portugal international Dalot and needed Ronaldo to reassure him about his ability.
‘Dalot needs a special mention,’ Ferdinand said on his podcast on Monday. ‘He is someone I doubted early-on.
‘I remember speaking to Cristiano Ronaldo and said, ‘Is he really that good?’ – and Cristiano said he will work hard, make himself better and 100 per cent improve.
‘He saw it behind the scenes so he knew that. I said to Darren Fletcher when I was at the training ground the other day that he has really impressed me.
‘Darren said that he is a worker, he’s going to make himself the player he needs to be.
Man Utd star Diogo Dalot has ‘really impressed’ Rio Ferdinand (Picture: Getty)
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‘I still think defensively he probably needs to work a little bit. But yesterday I thought he was very good defensively (against Aston Villa).
‘With the ball, that cross, if we have players running on to them, the forwards will make the runs and we will score more goals.’
Dalot has made 139 appearances for United to date since he moved to Old Trafford from Porto in 2018.
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