Former TNT Sports pundit Rio Ferdinand has now welcomed the face-to-face encounter that he had with Portugal and Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot for his podcast.
Diogo Dalot linked up with the 47-year-old Manchester United legend for a sitdown interview and opened up about his spell at Old Trafford and time as a player.
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Ferdinand teased Dalot’s appearance on his YouTube channel after the 26-year-old Man Utd right-back opened up about the reign of Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford.
Dalot shared a close relationship with former United manager Ruben Amorim before his fellow Portuguese native was sacked by the Premier League club last month.
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Diogo Dalot makes a point to Michael Carrick during the Premier League match between Everton and Manchester United at the Hill Dickinson Stadium in 2026 in Liverpool, England.
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Rio Ferdinand explains what stood out to him the most about Man Utd and Portugal right-back Diogo Dalot
Ruben Amorim was a big fan of Diogo Dalot and had used the Red Devils star as an inverted full-back in his contentious tactical system for Manchester United.
However, Dalot has since shifted to his preferred right-back role under Michael Carrick after Amorim was axed from his Man Utd managerial role in January.
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Speaking on his podcast, Ferdinand reflected on his chance to meet Dalot and to explore more about the United star’s evolution as a player since his 2018 move.
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The former Man Utd and England defender admitted that it was “refreshing” to have an encounter with a longstanding player from the current United first-team squad.
“No, I thought he was really kind of the way he spoke,” Ferdinand said on his Rio Ferdinand Presents platform.
“He spoke better than most English people at his age. I’m telling you, he was like, his vocabulary, his eloquence was really… it was refreshing to really speak to someone who’s been there.
“He’s been there, he’s like, I think, the second-longest serving player, I think seven or so years, he’s been there, [eight] seasons. And he just gives us a little bit of an insight.”
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Rio Ferdinand on Diogo Dalot talking openly about the impact of former Man Utd manager Ruben Amorim
Dalot praised the influence that Amorim had at United in the post-Erik ten Hag era and Ferdinand admitted he was surprised by the candidness of the Portugal ace.
“And one of the things that came out of it is the way he spoke about Ruben Amorim,” Ferdinand continued.
“And he said, ‘Listen, he actually took me back.’ He said he was really one of… it was really important in the club’s history.
“And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ He explained to me. And he was like, ‘There’s discipline and the standards and the culture that he brought in to make a lot of big decisions at the time, hard decisions, and he’s done them.’
“But they could be seen as a reason as to why people are seeing a better, an uplift now. And they would have seen that over a period of time.”
Dalot has made 27 appearances across all competitions in the 2025-26 season and the former Porto defender has netted once and registered three assists so far.
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