Jose Mourinho labelled
Diogo Dalot, or to give him his full name Jose Diogo Dalot Teixeria, as the "best full-back in Europe" for his age group when he paid Porto £19m for the 19-year-old this summer.
The Portuguese is expected to make his
Manchester United debut this evening in their Champions League opener against Young Boys in Switzerland and provide competition for captain Antonio Valencia for the right-back role. But what do we know about the teenager so far?
Career to date
The Braga-born full-back joined Porto's academy as a nine-year-old in 2008 and represented the club at every youth level before making his senior debut with the B team last January.
His "exceptional" performances were noticed by Porto manager Sergio Conceicao and earned him a first-team start back in Feburary, with an appearance from the bench in a 5-0 league win over Rio Ave.
His full debut followed seven days later as Porto knocked another five goals past their opposition, this time Portimonense and Dalot (pronounced Da-low) was soon getting a taste for big victories and silverware as Porto went on to wrap up the league title.
Porto enjoyed a higher league win-rate of 83.3 per cent when Dalot featured, as opposed to the 82.1 per cent when he was absent. A lucky mascot, perhaps?
A Champions League debut at Anfield became the latest milestone in a rapidly growing career in early March. The teenager played at left-back that night, against Sadio Mane and then second-half sub Mo Salah. A daunting test but one he came through with more credit in the bank.
A member of the Portugal squad that won the 2016 European U17 Championship, Dalot also represented the U20s at the World Cup a year later. A full call-up from Fernando Santos cannot be far away.
What type of player is he?
Porto youth coach Pedro Miguel has overseen Dalot's incredible rise and development and is one of the best placed indivudals to offer their viewpoint on Dalot's assets.
"He is very strong physically, it is natural that they can compare him to Cristiano Ronaldo, because he can also play on the wing because he is very fast and aggressive. He can produce goals and assists, there's nothing lacking in him as a winger," he said this summer.
"It's not a strange position for him, he's played there a lot of times, of course he feels better as a right-back, but he still has time to adapt, and I'm sure he could.