WE’LL admit to feeling very sheepish after the first three Game Weeks of the season.
Prior to Game Week 1, we tipped Diogo Dalot (£2.6m) a few times as a potential savvy option for Dream Team gaffers in need of a value-for-money defender.
Unfortunately, after the Portuguese’s first three outings he had incurred minus five points with nothing in the way of compensation.
Defeats to Brighton and Brentford put him deep in the red and a booking against Liverpool only worsened the outlook despite the Red Devils victory over Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Dalot’s price dropped to £2.2m after this desperately disappointing start to the campaign and it looked as if we’d steered our readers horribly wrong.
However, redemption is ours because, at the time of writing, the 23-year-old is the joint-fifth best defender in the game!
Erik ten Hag’s beat Sheriff Tiraspol 2-0 in the Europa League on Thursday night and it was Dalot who won the penalty, converted by Cristiano Ronaldo (£5.5m), for the visitors second goal in Moldova.
This act earned him an assist to add to his clean sheet and a thoroughly deserved 7+ rating which all amounted to a ten-point haul.
This influx moved the Portugal international onto 29 points overall, putting him above the likes of Ruben Dias (£5.4m), Eric Dier (£4.2m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.6m).
Dalot’s resurgence has been remarkable, he’s gained 34 points in the space of just three Game Weeks, a prosperous run that has coincided with Manchester United’s upturn in results.
Victory over Liverpool was followed by wins over Southampton, Leicester, Arsenal, Real Sociedad and Sheriff.
This winning streak has included five clean sheets, hence Dalot’s healthy returns.
Add in two assists and a Star Man award and we feel our pre-season suggestion has been fully justified despite the disastrous start to the new term.
Man United’s emotionally-charged game against Leeds will not take place this weekend as it’s been postponed due to issues with police numbers so gaffers would be overly eager to transfer Dalot into their XIs ahead of Game Week 7.
And managers may even feel reluctant to recruit him prior to Game Week 8 given the Manchester derby is scheduled for the first weekend after the international break – nobody is safe from Erling Haaland (£8.4m).
But at £2.6m Dalot is currently offering amazing returns for little investment and should be considered carefully.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
