Fit for purpose: Attention to detail keeps Dalot injury free

THERE must be something in the Portuguese water. In a season where 21 Manchester United players have succumbed to injury, Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes have stayed injury-free.

- SAMUEL LUCKHURST

Extraordinarily, Fernandes has never missed a United match in four years through an injury. Dalot joined United whilst recovering from a meniscus injury in 2018 and his first two seasons were blighted by fitness setbacks, but he has become one of the most robust athletes and trusted members of Erik ten Hag’s squad. 

Dalot is in Dubai on his mid-season break and undergoing daily sessions. He is particularly meticulous during the post-match recovery sessions and on flights Dalot wears leg compressors to reduce any muscle soreness and maximise circulation.

A source said Dalot is particularly fastidious about diet. The 24-year-old has become more durable since having his eyes opened by the famed Milan Lab during a season-long loan with AC Milan in 2020-21.

Since his time in Italy, Dalot has missed just nine club matches in three-and-a-half years and avoided injury in two successive seasons.

Now a father to daughter Clara, born in November, Dalot is approaching the sixth anniversary of his transfer to United. At £19million, he has been one of the more prudent pieces of business by the club in the last 15 years.

Dalot signed a five-year contract renewal in May and, provided he sees that through, he will have made good on Jose Mourinho’s proclamation he could be United’s right-back for a decade. Mourinho uttered that prediction after Dalot’s debut against Young Boys in September 2018.