Dalot reveals Ronaldo's blunt verdict on Man United striker who lacked 'fire' for a third goal

Cristiano Ronaldo told Manchester United teammate Diogo Dalot that one of their fellow strikers was destined to fail at Old Trafford — not because of a lack of talent, but because he lacked the relentless drive Ronaldo demanded of everyone around him. Dalot revealed the exchange in a piece for The Players’ Tribune, recounting a moment from the 2021-22 Premier League season that illustrated just how exacting Ronaldo’s standards were.

“We had a striker here who did really well for us in his first season, but Cristiano said, ‘He’s not gonna make it here’,” Dalot wrote. “I said, ‘Cris, he scored two goals today!’ He said, ‘Yeah, but he didn’t have the fire to go for the third.’”

Dalot does not name the player, and the statistics from that campaign offer little clarity. The only player other than Ronaldo to score a brace in a single match across all competitions that season was Bruno Fernandes, who netted twice in a draw at Aston Villa in January 2022. The strikers on United’s books at the time were Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood, and Edinson Cavani.

Ronaldo had returned to United in the summer of 2021 in a surprise move from Juventus under manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He was rejoining a club that had spent years without silverware and was still searching for a way back to the standards of the Sir Alex Ferguson era. For Ronaldo, who had won multiple Premier League titles and the Champions League during his first spell at Old Trafford, the gap between expectation and reality was stark — and he made no effort to hide it.

Dalot credited that season as a turning point in his own development. “That season with Cristiano was when I really started to grow as a player and as a person,” he wrote. “I lost count of the number of predictions he got right, because he knows so well what it takes to go to the top. If anyone skipped a set in the gym, he would notice.”

Ronaldo left United after 18 months following a high-profile interview with Piers Morgan in which he criticised the club, and he subsequently moved to Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia. Now 41, he continues to play at the highest international level and is set to represent Portugal at a sixth World Cup this summer.

Dalot was unequivocal in his support for Ronaldo’s continued international involvement. “To me, it’s totally crazy that anyone could even debate whether he should play at the World Cup,” he said. “Is he running like he’s 22? No. Is he scoring a goal per game? Yes. Does he make us all better? Yes. The guy is 41. He doesn’t need to be there, playing with people who are young enough to be his kids, but he is.”