Ronaldo relaxes on holiday with former Man Utd team-mate after bitter exit
Cristiano Ronaldo may have burned plenty of bridges when he left Manchester United, but not with team-mate Diogo Dalot.
After linking up for two important Euro 2024 qualifying fixtures earlier this month, Ronaldo and Dalot have been holidaying together. The Portuguese duo, along with their girlfriends and two other couples, were spotted living it up on a swanky yacht on the Italian island of Sardinia, having forged a friendship at club level and on the international stage.
Dalot, who signed a new five-year contract with United in May, was even reportedly mocked behind the scenes in Manchester for being 'president of the Cristiano Ronaldo fan club'. But that won't matter to the Red Devils right-back, who Ronaldo shared a snap with seven months on from his bitter departure from Old Trafford.
"Vacation mood," the five-time Ballon d'Or winner wrote in an Instagram post, adding a sunglasses emoji. Ronaldo also shared two pictures of himself posing to show off his impeccable physique.
It's believed that the Portugal captain, who last week became the first male player in football history to reach 200 international caps, and Dalot were on board Ronaldo's £5.5million luxury yacht. The pair helped their country to six points during the recent round of European Championship qualifiers, firstly beating Bosnia and Herzegovina and then Iceland.
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Ronaldo even scored the winning goal in the latter victory, marking 12 months since his time at United began to turn sour. The 38-year-old asked to leave the club last summer but was denied a move away.
After four frosty months working under new manager Erik ten Hag, Ronaldo eventually got his wish following an infamous TV interview with Piers Morgan. The former Real Madrid and Juventus superstar slammed Ten Hag, the club hierarchy and ex-team-mates in a bid to force an exit.
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It worked and during the World Cup which began in November, Ronaldo saw his contract officially terminated. That allowed him to join Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr, where he'll earn an eye-watering £173million per year.
The iconic striker didn't just criticise his colleagues during the aforementioned interview with Morgan, though, as Ronaldo notably picked out Dalot as one of three Red Devils players whom he admires. "He's young, but very professional," the Sporting Lisbon youth product declared on TalkTV. "But I don't doubt that he's going to have longevity in football because he's young, he's smart, intelligent and he's very professional. Probably [Lisandro] Martinez, Casemiro is in his 30s, but I will say Dalot."
Cristiano Ronaldo and Diogo Dalot forged a friendship at Manchester United (Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)Despite playing in a completely different position, the 24-year-old idolised Ronaldo growing up and said in 2021: "The GOAT [greatest of all-time], for me, I would say CR7, Cristiano. Ronaldo, for me, was the main one. He was my idol from day one. Not because he’s Portuguese, or his style of playing, but for his hard work."
Recently, speaking to O Jogo, Dalot also made it clear that he wanted his hero to stay at United. "I have a good relationship with him, ever since he arrived at Manchester United, we have had this good connection," the defender explained. "As is known, he is happy there [at Al-Nassr].
"I believe he has his dreams, his goals. He took this important step in his career, to play in another country and league, to show once again that he has enormous adaptability and resilience. The future will only be up to him to say. He still has the ability to give us a show.
"In football, you can't live on 'ifs'. We know the quality that Cristiano brings, it was a mutual decision to take different paths and we just have to accept it. As a team-mate, we really wanted Cristiano to be with us. We tried to make the most of the time he was here and it still gave us a lot."
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