Manchester United\u2019s Diogo Dalot revealed Cristiano Ronaldo once correctly predicted a certain striker would \u201cnot make it\u201d at Old Trafford\u2014but the right back refused to identify the former Red Devil.<\/p>\n
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Dalot shared the pitch with Ronaldo at the club level when the five-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner completed his sensational return to United<\/a> in Aug. 2021. The fullback pulled back the curtain on his relationship with the Portugal captain, describing how much he learned from him, as well as Ronaldo\u2019s uncanny ability to see into the future.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat season with Cristiano was when I really started to grow as a player and as a person,\u201d Dalot wrote in a piece for The Players\u2019 Tribune<\/em><\/a>. \u201cI lost count of the number of predictions he got right, because he knows so well what it takes to go to the top. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIf 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, \u2018He\u2019s not gonna make it here.\u2019 <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI said, \u2018Cris, he scored two goals today!\u2019 He said, \u2018Yeah, but he didn\u2019t have the fire to go for the third.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The mysterious jab from Ronaldo prompted United fans to dive deep into the 2021\u201322 season to figure out who the Portuguese phenom spoke about. Except the only player in red, other than Ronaldo, to bag at least a brace in that first campaign back was Bruno Fernandes<\/strong>. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fernandes, neither a striker nor a player who didn\u2019t last at United, does not fit the profile. After all, the attacking midfielder is coming off his seventh season with the club, one that crowned him FWA and Premier League Player of the Season<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There is perhaps then a discrepancy in the timeline of Dalot\u2019s story, because there are <\/em>a few names that fit the billing from the 2022\u201323 season, before Ronaldo left to join Al Nassr in December. Both Anthony Martial<\/strong> and Marcus Rashford <\/strong>netted twice in the first three months of the campaign and both players ultimately did not make it at Old Trafford. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Martial\u2019s tenure was full of highs and lows. In his seven years at Old Trafford, he found the back of the net 79 times in 269 appearances, winning five trophies along the way, including the 2016\u201317 Europa League title. By the time Ronaldo got to Old Trafford, though, the striker was struggling for form, sent out on loan to Sevilla in 2021\u201322 before scoring just nine goals in 2022\u201323 when he returned to Manchester. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rashford had even more accolades to his name, scoring 138 goals in 426 appearances in a red shirt. But the England international significantly struggled in Ronaldo\u2019s first season back, only bagging five goals. He bounced back in 2022\u201323, but the following two seasons were full of nothing but despair before he finally joined Aston Villa and then Barcelona on loan\u2014the latter of which where he hopes to stay<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jadon Sancho<\/strong> and Edinson Cavani <\/strong>also found the back of the net during Ronaldo\u2019s second stint at United, but neither had a brace to their name during his time back at Old Trafford. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mason Greenwood<\/strong> is another name being tossed around, largely in part due to his breakthrough campaign 2019\u201320, scoring 17 goals as a teenager. Except he also never scored a brace while Ronaldo was his United teammate. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\nWho Is the Striker Dalot, Ronaldo Discussed?<\/h2>\n
![\"Cristiano](\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_15,w_1024,h_682\/c_fill,w_16,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/voltaxMediaLibrary\/mmsport\/si\/01ktevmv3j8mj1rt51b2.jpg\" "\\"Cristiano")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n![\"Marcus](\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_39,w_1024,h_682\/c_fill,w_16,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/voltaxMediaLibrary\/mmsport\/si\/01ktevkbc35zybgd6tsf.jpg\" "\\"Marcus")
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