Manchester United have had a mixed bag of results this season under new manager Erik ten Hag. The Red Devils currently sit fifth in the table with five wins and three losses.
The start was as inauspicious as it could get as United succumbed to back-to-back defeats at the hands of Brighton and Brentford.
They came back strongly and went on a run of four successive wins including getting the better of arch-rivals Liverpool and league leaders Arsenal.
Dalot’s improvement under ETH
But they fell short against Manchester City who put them to the sword by scoring six. United have since regained some of the lost momentum by claiming a 2-1 win over Everton in their last game.
Hear Man United now formally pursuing Diogo Dalot to sign contract extension. Player inclined to accept. But he’s had a offers on the table from Barcelona + three Serie A clubs – one being Milan. There’s an idea he may wait until after the WC to make decision to maximise value.
— Jacque Talbot (@jac_talbot) October 12, 2022
The Dutch manager seems to have figured out the players he can trust and one player who has really impressed and is yet to miss a single match so far is Diogo Dalot.
The right-back has not had the best of times since his arrival in England. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did not seem to rate him and hardly played him, even going on to send him out on loan to AC Milan.
It was Ralf Rangnick who gave him an extended run-out last season before Ten Hag came in and completely changed the way he plays.
Dalot has always been someone who is adept at bombing forward but his crosses and defensive work was what let him down on most occasions.
But this season, Dalot has been a revelation and is one of the first-names on the team sheet. His defensive work has improved by leaps and bounds and he has even chipped in with two assists after not registering a single on last season.
The former Porto youngster’s impressive form has seen Aaron Wan-Bissaka get completely sidelines and the Portuguese has attracted a lot of interest from across Europe.
Contract talks on
Dalot’s contract with the Red Devils is set to expire next season and Barcelona and AC Milan are among four clubs monitoring the situation closely. United do have the option of triggering a one-year extension.
According to journalist Jacque Talbot, “United are now formally pursuing Diogo Dalot to sign contract extension.”
However, the 23-year-old is is no hurry to sign to sign on the dotted lines even though he is “inclined to accept”. That is because he wants to wait for the World Cup to finish in a bid to “maximise value”.
A solid World Cup campaign for Portugal is sure to drum up even more interest in his services and he can command a higher wage increase.
For now, fans will be happy to see the kind of improvement he has had under Ten Hag and want him to stay for the long-term as the Dutchman aims to take the club back to the top.
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