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| In his two seasons at United, Diogo Dalot has had some great moments but never nailed down the right back position, should he leave? Image from Twitter |
On the weekend, it was rumoured that Barcelona were coming in for Diogo Dalot, who they apparently also tried to sign before we beat them to it. The questions that I have been asking myself since seeing this report, are whether this would be a good sale for Manchester United? Has he really been given his chance to show what he can do? Is he still too young for us fans to judge him?
The Price Tag
Barcelona are supposedly looking to sign Dalot for around £10million, which is an absolute steal for any Premier League player these days, let alone one from Manchester United, even if he has made just 11 appearances this season. However, it is believed that the thinking around this is that his sale could be used to fund the other big investments that United are planning, namely that of Jadon Sancho.
This, generally, would be a good idea to balance the books, getting rid of players that don’t play all too often to balance out the big transfers. However, if Liverpool can get £19million for Dominic Solanke, surely United can hold out for more for Dalot?
What is his best position?
The thing about Diogo Dalot is, is that he has shown brief glimpses of what he can do, albeit very brief glimpses. Since joining Manchester United as a right back, he has seemed to have transitioned into more of a right midfielder or right-winger, without having displaced Greenwood who is currently in that position.
What we cannot forget, is that Dalot is the player who took thatshot to earn Manchester United the penalty against Paris-Saint Germain last season.
The Age Factor
When we signed Diogo Dalot, he was a relatively unknown 19-year-old, who had made just 6 senior appearances at Porto. Now, after 2 years at Manchester United, he has made just 20 Premier League appearances. I just do not feel like this is enough time for someone to be able to prove that they are a quality player, especially since the minutes he has played were rarely ever 90 at one time.
One thing that Manchester United need to think about, is that we currently don’t have a lot of depth in the side. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took the unusual step of playing the same lineup five times in a row towards the end of the Premier League. This showed in our team’s performances, as we looked lacklustre, jaded and fatigued when securing a Champions League place.
Surely, Dalot is decent enough to step in for us when either Greenwood or Wan-Bissaka need a rest every now and then? Certainly now that we are back in the Champions League, have Barcelona seen something we haven’t?
