Rio Ferdinand says Cristiano Ronaldo told him Manchester United ace is going to get better, he was totally convinced

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Rio Ferdinand has praised the performance of Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot in the recent win over Aston Villa.

Diogo Dalot provided the match-winning assist for Manchester United in the victory at Villa Park, with a cross worthy of David Beckham.

It continued a strong run of form for the Portugal defender, who has been one of Manchester United’s most reliable players this season.

He has made 32 appearances this season already, 30 of which have been as a starter.

Cristiano Ronaldo backed Diogo Dalot

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is impressed with the way Diogo Dalot has improved, but admits he has had his doubts over him.

Ferdinand said he previously spoke with Cristiano Ronaldo, his former teammate, who was close to his Portugal international colleague.

He told Five: “Dalot needs a special mention. He’s someone I doubted early, I spoke to Cristiano and said ‘is he really going to be good?, and he said ‘Rio he works, he works hard, he’ll make himself better, he’ll improve’. He’s obviously seen that behind the scenes.”

Dalot previously spoke of his pride playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, and spent time with him off the pitch too.

Ronaldo’s infamous interview which led to his departure saw the forward pick out Diogo Dalot as a player he believed could go a long way and be a success.

Ferdinand is not the only one to doubt Dalot in the past. Lou Macari spoke to MUTV after the Villa game and said he had concerns over him heading into this season.

Ferdinand says Darren Fletcher backed Dalot

Ferdinand was Manchester United’s Carrington training ground last week, where he spent time with technical director Darren Fletcher.

He explained how Fletcher’s comments mirrored Cristiano Ronaldo’s view of Diogo Dalot.

He said: “I spoke to Darren Fletcher, I saw him at the training ground the other day, I said he’s really impressed me, he was saying ‘listen, he’s a worker, he is going to make himself the player he needs to be’.

“I still think defensively he needs to work a little bit, but yesterday he was very good, and with the ball for that cross, if we have players running onto those crosses we will score more goals.”

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