The prediction will come true, Diego Dalot challenges what Mourinho said

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. 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.

Manchester United would have an important option to make with André Onana

Dalot is in Dubai on his mid-season break and undergoing daily sessions. He is particularly meticulous during the post-match recovery sessions which Ten Hag takes more seriously than any other United manager. 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.

Dalot was available for the entirety of that campaign and became so diligent in embracing injury-prevention techniques he limited socialising to reduce contracting Covid-19. Several Milan players flew abroad during the winter break and tested positive for Covid when they returned. Dalot eschewed a mid-season holiday as he had researched how decimated Italy was left by the Omicron variant. Instead, Dalot trained daily indoors in the gym in his apartment. Since he rented in Milan, Dalot has missed 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.

Manchester United seeks to invest more than 100 million euros in defense

Dalot in international competitions

This season, Dalot has started in five of United’s six Champions League group stage games, both League Cup ties and 18 of their 21 Premier League fixtures. The only matchday squad he was absent for was against West Ham, where he was suspended after Michael Oliver’s grandstanding officiating in the last knockings at Anfield the week before. Though Dalot's season has been blemished by costly lapses against Galatasaray, Newcastle and Copenhagen, there have also been winning goals at Sheffield United and Wigan, the former a poignant homage to Sir Bobby Charlton hours after the United legend passed away.