Diogo Dalot has reportedly been pushed further towards the exit at Man Utd after he saw Cristiano Ronaldo leave the club last month.
Ronaldo finally got what he wanted last month when the Red Devils mutually agreed to terminate his contract with reports all summer that he was trying to get out of Old Trafford.
Man Utd were nowhere near as attractive to Ronaldo without Champions League football and his controversial interview with Piers Morgan was the final straw for the Red Devils hierarchy.
The interview came just weeks after he had refused to come off the bench in their 2-0 Premier League victory over Tottenham with Ronaldo fined and made to train by himself.
He was welcomed back into the fold the following week but he decided to criticise the club, Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag, senior executives and others in his 90-minute rant to Morgan.
And Spanish publication Sport (via Sport Witness) claim that Barcelona now have a better chance of luring Ronaldo’s international team-mate Dalot to La Liga in the next couple of transfer windows.
Dalot is out of contract in the summer transfer window but Man Utd are very likely to trigger the one-year extension in that deal with Erik ten Hag ‘counting on him’.
There is the possibility of a ‘broader renewal’ while another option would be to ‘consider a transfer’ with Barcelona very interested in the right-back’s services.
Dalot has been on the Catalan giants’ radar ‘for some time’ and Sport insist that Dalot ‘could welcome a change of scenery’, especially now Ronaldo has gone.
The 23-year-old was one of Ronaldo’s ‘main allies’ at the club and they claim that Dalot’s compatriot could’ve been ‘key’ to encouraging him to stay at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag claims that Ronaldo “never told” him that he wanted to leave Man Utd and that he still wanted him to stay.
Speaking to the press over the weekend, Ten Hag said: “I have seen most of it. I have to do it. It is part of my job.
“The interview, I think, as a club, you can’t accept. To make that step, he knew the consequences. But before he never told me. Until that moment he never told me ‘I want to leave’.”
Ten Hag added: “Last year he scored 24 goals. What does this team need? We need goals.
“I like to work with world-class players. I know they can make a difference and help you to achieve your objectives.
“I wanted him to stay from the first moment until now. I did everything to bring him into the team because I value his quality. We wanted him to be part of our project and for him to contribute to Manchester United because he is a great player and has such a great history.”
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