That sense of unity extends into the stands, where John Denver’s ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ has quickly become a fan-favourite anthem.
Diogo has spoken about how its introduction, with the adapted lyrics ‘United Road’, last season came from within the squad – with captain Bruno Fernandes playing a key part – and its impact has been keenly felt.
“Since I arrived, obviously, I related a lot when we won the cups,” our no.2 explains. “We had those moments at Wembley where everybody was singing and then you could feel that we wanted a bit more of that. And as soon as we decided, I think Bruno did really well speaking with the club about putting that before games.
“I think it makes the atmosphere so much interesting and so much warming for us. I really appreciated that. And as soon as we started doing that, I think we took Old Trafford to another level, even though it was already amazing.”