DIOGO DALOT hopes Cristiano Ronaldo stays to be part of Manchester United’s rebuild.
United are back in England after a successful pre-season tour that saw three wins and a draw.
They did it without wantaway legend Ronaldo, who trained on his own in Lisbon — citing family issues for not being on the trip.
But fellow Portuguese Dalot, 23, said: “Cristiano is important for us. He’s going through family issues, we hope everything is OK.”
While Ronaldo, 37, may fear he cannot compete for top honours again at Old Trafford, right-back Dalot can see a bright future under new boss Erik ten Hag.
He said: “We start from scratch — new manager, new energy, new players coming in and we’re looking forward to playing with them.
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“We need to build a team, a staff, a club, everyone together.”
United ended their tour on Saturday night in Perth with a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa on the back of three straight wins.
Taskmaster Ten Hag blasted his team for throwing away a two-goal lead.
While it was just a friendly, Dalot believes that tough approach is just what they need.
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He said: “It is discipline. We need to be ready to hear things that maybe we don’t want to hear.
“We need to keep the tempo, keep the ball — we don’t want to concede so many counter-attacks.”
Dalot has become first-choice right-back after spending last term out on loan at AC Milan.
Having shone on tour, he added: “I need to show I’m capable of playing many games here.”
