Irwin also reserved praise for Diogo Dalot, who has had an impressive summer with Portugal – reaching the final of the Under-21 European Championship – before being called up to his country’s senior squad at Euro 2020, in place of the injured Joao Cancelo.
Dalot made his senior international debut for the Selecao in their 2-2 draw with France in the group stage, and Irwin says it could be the encouragement he needs to really challenge Aaron Wan-Bissaka for a first-team spot when he returns to Manchester.
“It’s a good bit of experience for him. He’s still a young lad, and obviously was playing at AC Milan last year in a really good league, so that will give him great experience as well. He needs to come back and challenge for that full-back position, because Aaron’s made that position his own. So it’s good that there’s competition there. He looks strong, he looks fit. He needs a run of games and a run of weeks without injury problems to keep going. But he’s done brilliantly for Portugal so that’s good to see.
“I don’t think we need to worry about full-back positions at the moment! With Luke playing so well and Diogo coming back… I don’t know what plans Ole has got, but [we have] Brandon – who had a quieter year last year after his breakthrough year – and Alex Telles on hand as well. We’re very strong in that position.”
