Relevo, a Spanish sports media outlet, have reported that the 15x Champions of Europe are interested in signing Diogo Dalot from United.
They are saying that the fee for the Portuguese right-back would be €50m (£44m) as they attempt to bring in a new right-back.
Sergio Fernandez who wrote the article, says that "Contact with the player's entourage was made while Erik Ten Hag was still in charge of the Red Devils ' dugout". From past reports, we know that Real Madrid have had their eye on Dalot for a while as his name seems to get associated with Los Blancos quite a lot.
Madrid's main option for right-back is Trent Alexander-Arnold, something that the entire football world knows, but compared to Dalot, the Liverpool man's contract expires at the end of the season meaning that he could move to Madrid for free whereas with Dalot, they would have to pay a sum (£44m) with his contract expiring in June 2028.
Dalot was voted as United's Player's player of the year last season after a terrific campaign. However, the 25-year-old has come under a lot of criticism for his lackluster performances so far this season. It's gotten to a point where I don't think many would be opposed to letting this once fan-favorite go.
This interest in Dalot from Madrid seems to be a sort of backup to TAA who while his future at Anfield remains up in arms, in recent weeks, there looks to be a chance that he and Liverpool could reach an agreement over a new contract.
Fernandez says that for Dalot to leave Manchester for Madrid, "it will be complicated" however, this move would be a long-term option for the European champions.
Final Thoughts
I personally wouldn't let Dalot go, yet. The fact that it has gotten to a point where I (and many) are now open to letting him go is a problem in the first place. This is also coming from someone who is a huge fan of Dalot's.
For a player who won the Player's player of the year last year to have fallen so low in terms of his performances is completely unacceptable.
It's been pretty weird for Dalot over the last couple of seasons as I've felt that he had been playing well for a while but only seemed to receive his flowers last season. He is also one of the more available players as he is much like his fellow Portuguese and MUFC captain Bruno Fernandes. The pair are always available and are like machines in that they play every minute of every game. That is a skill in itself.
I still think Dalot has a part to play at United especially under Amorim, who's just arrived, with the new MUFC boss even saying that Dalot is "very powerful" and that "he is a very good player."
I honestly can't explain why he's fallen so low but I do think that he is overplayed. He hardly ever gets a break and is a constant for the national side as well.
Even still though, he should be putting in much better performances than he has. At the start of the season, he was the favorite to start over Noussair Mazraoui at right-back.
Now though, completely different story.
This new system under Amorim could either make or break Dalot's time at the club. Either he is going to flourish at some point or he will find himself out the team because he cannot play as a left wing-back. With him being better suited to the right (something else that the manager said) he has problems on that side as well because he cannot dispossess both Mazraoui or Amad down that right flank. The pair are just brilliant at the moment.
However, he is still such a versatile player who could play in a number of positions and can be important for the squad so it isn't all said and done for him at Old Trafford.
We know that United have their financial issues so if we need the funds, this £44m for Dalot would help the club a long way in terms of bringing in money that they could use elsewhere. This would be a similar deal to those of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Scott McTominay: two players that the club may not have wanted to sell but two that were valued and had the potential to bring in some useful funds.
I think if push comes to shove, this is a deal United could do.
It's also a good thing that a club like Real Madrid are looking at him because this means that he has a lot of quality. A club like that doesn't look at you if you don't have something about you.
If he were to leave, I wouldn't be opposed to him going to Madrid. I think he could do well there.
Would you let Diogo Dalot leave?
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