Diogo Dalot has spent enough of his Manchester United career being judged through what he is not. Not quite a locked-in right-back, not quite a natural left-back, not quite the obvious answer when a manager wants a specialist.
Yet Roberto Martinez’s latest comments around Portugal’s World Cup squad point to the other side of the argument. Sometimes a player who can do three jobs properly is not a compromise. Sometimes he is the bit of the squad that lets everything else breathe.
Martinez, speaking ahead of Portugal’s Group K opener against DR Congo, discussed the depth and balance of his defensive options and noted that Portugal have used players such as Ruben Neves and Dalot in central defensive roles. That is not a guarantee of where Dalot will play in Houston, and it should not be dressed up as one. But for United, it is another reminder of why Michael Carrick should be careful before undervaluing him.
Dalot’s flexibility still matters
United supporters know the frustration with Dalot. They have seen the loose moments, the crosses that do not beat the first man, the games where the final pass has not matched the position he has worked himself into. At Old Trafford, patience is rarely handed out for free.
But the better question for Carrick is not whether Dalot is flawless. It is whether United have enough players with his physical reliability, tactical adaptability and willingness to take uncomfortable jobs. The answer, across too much of the recent past, has been no.
That is why the Portugal angle is worth watching. Dalot is not merely travelling as a squad filler. He is part of a group where versatility carries genuine tournament value, especially when the margins shrink and managers need fixes in-game rather than neat pre-match theory.
ReadManUtd has already covered how Dalot’s assist for Portugal gave United a useful World Cup reminder, and this is the same point from a different direction. His value is not always loud. Sometimes it is being trusted to cover the role that keeps a team from becoming stretched.
Carrick has a squad-building lesson here
United’s summer should still be about raising the level. Carrick needs specialists in key areas, and the club cannot hide behind versatility if the starting XI lacks authority. Anyone who has watched United from the stands over the last few years knows the difference between a useful squad option and a side built on makeshift answers.
Still, the rebuild cannot only be about shiny arrivals. It also has to be about knowing which existing players solve real match problems. Dalot does that more often than his harsher critics admit.
There is a link here to the left-back work too. United’s search for balance has already been shaped by questions around Luke Shaw, Patrick Dorgu and the wider full-back group, with Antonee Robinson and Lewis Hall among the left-back names recently monitored. In that context, a player who can move across the back line and still understand the rhythm of a big game carries obvious value.
United should not mistake quiet value for weakness
Dalot’s World Cup will not define his United future on its own. Tournaments can distort judgments as easily as they clarify them, and Portugal have enough quality for the spotlight to move quickly from one player to another.
But the principle is sound. United need better recruitment, yes. They also need better squad intelligence. Carrick inherited a club that has too often treated players as either untouchable or disposable, when the truth of a dressing room is usually more layered.
Dalot may not be the face of the rebuild, but he remains one of those footballers a manager notices when the game gets awkward. His World Cup profile with Portugal is not just a summer subplot. It is a reminder that United’s squad needs players who can carry detail, discipline and discomfort.
That does not make Dalot immune from competition. It makes him exactly the sort of player United should understand properly before they decide what comes next.
