Comparing the Full Backs: Wan-Bissaka vs Dalot; Shaw vs Telles
Wan-Bissaka vs Dalot Amid tight competition for ‘full back starting roles’ at United, how do Diego Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka measure up? It’s safe to say that Diego Dalot has been putting in the type of performances that should have Aaron Wan‑Bissaka on the bench deeply worried. Wan-Bissaka burst onto the scene as a future star at Crystal Palace and was soon snapped up by the Premier League giants for £50million after being named as the club’s Player of the Year for the 2018–19 season. 24 years of age, few know that although he was born in Croydon, Greater London, he is of Congolese descent and in fact made one appearance for DR Congo under-20s in 2015. He has gone on to represent the country of his birth, England, at under-20 and under-21 levels. He has made
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87 appearances for United and scored 2 goals. José Diogo Dalot Teixeira, known as Diogo Dalot, age 22 is Portuguese and a product of the Porto youth system. After making eight appearances for Porto, he joined Manchester United in June 2018 for a reported fee of €22 million. Although with Portugal he won the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship and made his senior international debut at the UEFA Euro 2020, there seemed to be no place for him at United so much so that between October 2020 and June 2021, Dalot was loaned out to Italian Serie A club AC Milan. He has made 36 appearances for United. Although he has never scored for United, he did score one goal while on loan. So how do they compare on the field?
by Kenneth Abela
Wan‑Bissaka is a reliable right back and good defensively while Dalot is seen as a better attacking right-back. The former Porto man hardly had a sniff of football under former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who preferred Wan Bissaka whom he had signed from Crystal Palace. However Aaron Wan Bissaka’s minor injury plus Rangnick’s arrival offered everybody a clean slate: an opportunity that Dalot certainly grabbed with both hands. The German manager clearly prefers attacking full backs - a trait the modern game demands from a full back. Diego has a strong attacking profile, is confident in driving up the flank, making crucial overlapping runs and swinging balls into the box. Dalot is not the tallest but still wins more headers than those around him. He looks comfortable going forward and
