Cristiano Ronaldo once told Diogo Dalot that a Manchester United teammate “wouldn’t make it” at the club because he lacked the “fire” to chase a third goal — even after scoring twice in a match. The revelation, published in a piece for The Players’ Tribune, has set off a guessing game over the identity of the player the Portuguese superstar deemed unworthy of the Old Trafford stage.
Dalot, who played alongside Ronaldo during the forward’s tumultuous second spell at United, recounted the conversation in detail. “That season with Cristiano was when I really started to grow as a player and as a person,” Dalot 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. 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.’ 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 unnamed striker?
Dalot does not directly name the player, and the timeline of Ronaldo’s second stint at United — which began on 31 August 2021 and ended in an acrimonious exit in November 2022 — makes identification difficult. The only United player to score twice in a match during Ronaldo’s first season back, other than Ronaldo himself, was Bruno Fernandes. The attacking midfielder netted a hat-trick against Leeds on the opening day of the 2021‑22 campaign and a brace against Aston Villa the following January. However, Fernandes is primarily a midfielder, and Dalot specifically refers to a “striker”.
Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford each scored braces before Ronaldo left the club in November 2022, but those came in the first three months of the 2022‑23 season, not during Ronaldo’s first season back. Crucially, Dalot was not at United during Martial and Rashford’s respective debut campaigns at Old Trafford, further complicating the theory.
Another possibility is Mason Greenwood. The forward enjoyed a superb breakthrough season in 2019‑20 but never scored twice for United while sharing a pitch with Ronaldo. He did, however, net in three games alongside Ronaldo during the 2021‑22 season, and he scored a brace in a win over Burnley in April 2021 — four months before Ronaldo’s return and during Dalot’s loan spell at AC Milan. Greenwood’s last game for United came midway through the 2021‑22 season after his arrest in January 2022. Charges of attempted rape, assault and controlling and coercive behaviour were later dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service following the “withdrawal of key witnesses and new material coming to light”.
Other forwards who found the net during Ronaldo’s first season back include Jadon Sancho and Edinson Cavani. Cavani scored twice in 15 appearances that season; Sancho managed three goals in 29 league games. Ronaldo himself was United’s top scorer in the 2021‑22 Premier League campaign with 18 goals.
The confusion over the player’s identity has led to speculation that Dalot may be misremembering the exact timeline. The full-back joined Manchester United in June 2018 and spent the 2020‑21 season on loan at AC Milan before returning to become a more regular starter from the 2021‑22 season onwards.
Dalot’s own reflections
In the same Players’ Tribune piece, Dalot addressed the criticism he has faced during his eight years at Old Trafford. “One thing I’ve learned is that it’s never as bad as what the outside world tells you,” he wrote. “‘Worst right-back in the league. Should not be playing for Man United.’ I know it’s not true.”
Dalot and Ronaldo were both named in the Portugal squad for the World Cup, alongside United captain Bruno Fernandes.
