Ferdinand says he initially doubted United man but has been left ‘really impressed’ by him lately; he has Ronaldo’s backing

Rio Ferdinand has singled out Diogo Dalot for praise after his resurgent spell of form for Manchester United.

The Portugal international has been Erik ten Hag’s preferred right-back for some time now and judging by his recent performances, he’ll face no competition in the starting 11 when Aaron Wan-Bissaka is available again.

Dalot received plaudits following Sunday’s triumphant win over Aston Villa after he delivered an inch-perfect cross that was headed home by Scott McTominay in the closing stages of the clash, securing a crucial three points away from home.

The attacking aspect of Dalot’s game is something that he’s been criticised for since making the switch from Porto in 2018, so it’s positive to see a stark improvement this season.

Aside from his tremendous assist, the defender was pivotal in keeping Villa’s ever-threatening attackers quiet across the clash – for the most part anyway.

Ferdinand’s praise for Dalot

Ferdinand took to FIVE to laud the 24-year-old, saying: “Dalot needs a special mention because he’s someone I doubted earlier. I remember speaking to Cristiano going ‘Is he really going to be any good?’ And Cristiano said ‘Rio, he works, he’ll work hard, he’ll make himself better, 100 per cent he’ll improve’.”

“I said to Darren Fletcher,” he continued. “I was at the training ground the other day, I said ‘He’s [Dalot] really impressed me,’ and he was saying ‘Listen, he’s a worker, he’s going to make himself the player he needs to be’.

”I still think defensively he probably needs to work a little bit but defensively [vs Aston Villa] I thought he was very good.”