Dalot will never forget 'role model' Jota

Manchester United and Portugal defender Diogo Dalot attends Diogo Jota's funeral in Gondomar on 4 July

Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot intends to keep only good memories of his Portugal team-mate Diogo Jota, someone he regards as a role model for life.

Along with United team-mate Bruno Fernandes, Dalot attended the funeral of Liverpool forward Jota, 28, and his brother Andre Silva, 25, who were killed in a car crash in Spain on 3 July.

Like Jota, Dalot was born in northern Portugal. The pair were at Porto at the same time and also overlapped in the Portugal Under-21 set-up before becoming international team-mates at senior level in 2021.

Dalot says he will never forget Jota.

"When you are talking about the personal side, I don't look at the shirt he represents," said 26-year-old.

"I played a lot of years with him in the national team and spent time with him, so you create a connection and memories. That's what I want to keep, the good memories.

"I don't think there are any words to describe it when such a tragedy happens like that. It hits you.

"I felt the whole world felt it, even if they didn't know him personally."

Dalot said he had seen shirts during Manchester United's Premier League Summer Series encounter with Bournemouth at Chicago's Soldier Field dedicated to Jota.

"He was someone who was a role model for me. I always like to see a player's behaviour when they play and when they don't play," Dalot added.

"He was always putting the team first."