Sensing competition and interest from two major European powerhouses in Barcelona and AC Milan, Manchester United are looking to trigger a one-year extension to Diogo Dalot’s contract to keep him at Old Trafford longer. Having been signed by Jose Mourinho from FC Porto in 2018 for £19 million, Dalot’s current deal with Manchester United expires next summer.

He spent on year on loan with AC Milan during the 2020-21 season but has spent the majority of his four years at United as the understudy to Aaron Wan-Bissaka. However, having failed in their pursuit to sign a new right-back this summer, United under the command of new manager Erik ten Hag decided to promote Dalot as the new right-back instead.

He had made the most of his opportunity and has started all 12 Premier League matches for the Red Devils so far, impressing everyone in the process.

Dalot was very close to leaving this summer as both Barcelona as well as AC Milan, with the latter also interested in signing him last season, were both monitoring his situation and continuing to follow his movements at Old Trafford.

Both clubs will have the opportunity to sign him for free next year as his current contract with United is set to expire soon. However, sources from Daily Mail and The Sun report that United are insistent on keeping hold of Dalot as contract negotiations are set to continue. They want him to sign a new contract and have also reportedly, triggered an option in his contract to extend it by an additional year until the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

Carlos Goncalves – who has been Dalot’s agent since he was 15 years old – is in constant dialogue with United over his client’s future.

The Portuguese international is also likely to feature in his country’s plans and is expected to head to Qatar for the FIFA World Cup later this month. He was named in the initial 55-man preliminary squad.

“Personally, I’m not one to make long-term plans.

“I live season by season, month by month and just want to help the team as much I can.

“Right now, my ambitions are to be at the World Cup to help my national team, and in the end of the season to give trophies to [United] fans because they deserve it,” said Dalot.