Manchester United set asking price for first-team star after Real Madrid transfer approach

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Real Madrid are closely monitoring Diogo Dalot and have asked the defender’s entourage about a possible transfer move to the Bernabeu next summer.

Dalot is one of the longest-serving players at Old Trafford, having joined United from Porto in June 2018, and the 25-year-old is currently enjoying his seventh campaign with the Red Devils.

In that time, Dalot, who spent the 2020/21 season on loan at AC Milan, has made 178 appearances in all competitions for United, helping the club win the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup.

However, mounting reports emanating from Spain are linking Dalot with a big-money switch to Madrid at the end of the season, with the La Liga champions determined to strengthen at full-back.

According to Madrid-based publication Relevo, Los Blancos are ‘keeping a close eye on’ Dalot as a possible alternative to Liverpool contract rebel Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Madrid are aware that a deal for Dalot will not come cheap and it’s claimed United will not even consider an agreement unless they receive an offer in the region of €50million (£41.5m).

United signed a 19-year-old Dalot for a fee of around €22m (£18m) six years ago and the Premier League giants would be reluctant to let the right-back leave for anything below double that figure.

Madrid first made contact with Dalot’s entourage while Erik ten Hag was still in charge at the Theatre of Dreams and, while Alexander-Arnold is their priority target, the Portugal international remains a player of real interest.

Ruben Amorim has made no secret of Dalot’s ‘importance’ to the squad, though, with the former Porto man starting all 13 games for United in the Premier League after scooping the club’s Players’ Player of the Year award last term.

‘He's very powerful. We have to rotate him sometimes because he looks like he is always fresh but he's not like that. He's not a machine,’ the newly appointed United head coach said of his fellow countryman ahead of Sunday’s 4-0 win over Everton.

‘I think he plays better on the right and we will manage to put him also on the right. He's a very good player, very powerful and can play both sides.

‘Nowadays, a player that can play both sides… it's perfect, because you can put him in different positions.

‘I expect the same [performance level] as you saw in the past year – a great player that can help the team and is really a team player. You can feel it in every play, the way he lives the game. So he’s very important for us.’

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