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Manchester United's Diogo Dalot has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo once accurately predicted a particular striker would "not make it" at Old Trafford—though the right back declined to name the former Red Devil in question.
Dalot shared the field with Ronaldo at club level when the five-time Ballon d'Or recipient made his stunning comeback to United in August 2021. The fullback offered a glimpse into his bond with the Portugal skipper, detailing how much he absorbed from him, along with Ronaldo's remarkable knack for predicting outcomes.
"That season alongside Cristiano was when I truly began to develop as both a player and a person," Dalot wrote in a piece for The Players' Tribune. "I lost track of how many predictions he got right, because he understands so well what it takes to reach the very top.
"If anyone skipped a set in the gym, he would notice. We had a striker here who performed really well 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.'"
Who Is the Striker Dalot, Ronaldo Discussed?
Ronaldo's cryptic remark sent United supporters scrambling through the 2021–22 season in an attempt to identify who the Portuguese star was referring to. However, the only player in red, aside from Ronaldo himself, to score at least a brace during that first season back was Bruno Fernandes.
Fernandes, who is neither a striker nor someone who failed to last at United, doesn't fit the description. The attacking midfielder is, after all, coming off his seventh season at the club—one that saw him claim both the FWA and Premier League Player of the Season awards.
There may therefore be a discrepancy in the timeline of Dalot's account, as there are several names that match the profile from the 2022–23 season, before Ronaldo departed to join Al Nassr in December. Both Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford scored twice within the opening three months of that campaign, and both ultimately failed to cement their places at Old Trafford.
Martial's time at Old Trafford was a rollercoaster. Across seven years with the club, he netted 79 times in 269 outings, collecting five trophies along the way, including the 2016–17 Europa League. By the time Ronaldo arrived back, however, the striker had fallen out of form, heading out on loan to Sevilla in 2021–22 before managing just nine goals in 2022–23 upon his return to Manchester.
Rashford boasted an even more impressive record, netting 138 goals in 426 appearances in a United shirt. Yet the England international struggled considerably during Ronaldo's first season back, contributing just five goals. He rebounded in 2022–23, but the two seasons that followed were marked by disappointment before he eventually joined Aston Villa and then Barcelona on loan—the latter being a club he hopes to remain at.
Jadon Sancho and Edinson Cavani also found the net during Ronaldo's second spell at United, though neither managed to score a brace while he was at Old Trafford.
Mason Greenwood is another name being floated, largely due to his breakout 2019–20 campaign in which he scored 17 goals as a teenager. However, he too never registered a brace while Ronaldo was his United teammate.