Patrick Rees
A lot is being said about the possible move of Victor Lindelof to Manchester United and now the reports from Sky Sports have confirmed that the Devils have started discussing the potential deal with Benfica over a £38m move for the 22-year-old.
It was understood that the Portuguese outfit were reluctant to sell their asset mainly because of their qualification in the knock-out stages of the Champions League, but with Manchester United ready to pay the demanded £38 million amount, the deal is now back on cards.
Sources from Independent has confirmed that Benfica’s president Luis Filipe Vieira has flown to England to complete all the formalities and the 22-year-old Swedish defender will complete his move in the coming days. The deal practically makes a lot of sense for the Red Devils, as their new signing Eric Bailly is out injured and will be travelling back to his home nation to play the African Cup of Nations for at least a month.
Furthermore, Chris Smalling did mark his return in the game against West Brom past weekend, but it is quite certain that Manchester United manager do not really favour the Englishman anymore and given how both Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo have performed, Smalling’s inclusion is in scrutiny.
Besides all of it, Manchester United do have four competitions ahead of them so it is quite practical to think that they need reinforcement in the channels to assert their authority in the season and bringing Lindelof would certainly help their cause.
Lindelof was an unknown quantity before he made his move from Vasteras SK – a club in the lower tier of Swedish football – to Benfica as a 17-year-old in 2011. He was given his first team opportunity back in January 2016, and now it seems like the manager has been thoroughly impressed by his presence at the back.
Even after breaking into the senior team in January, the 22-year-old helped his side to lift the domestic title and was also called to serve his nation in all three of Sweden’s games in EURO 2016. Till date, he has 11 national caps to his name – not bad for a 22-year-old.
It is quite certain that both Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay will be heading out of Manchester in January, so United will raise a little amount to sign the Swedish, but their exclusion means United will be short in central midfield, and looking at their current roster, they do not really have enough players to trust upon; Fellaini? No!
Hence, it won’t be a surprise if Mourinho brings a central midfielder as well.
