Bharath Rammr
Manchester United are reportedly very keen on closing the Victor Lindelof chase before the end of the year with the hope of announcing the player as the first signing of the January transfer window according to reports from Daily Star. Lindelof has emerged as one of the primary transfer targets for the club, despite manager Jose Mourinho experiencing some promising performances from the likes of Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo in recent weeks.
It is reported that the Portuguese manager sees the combination of Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof as the future for Manchester United at the back. For this reason, the Red Devils are ready to pay a whopping £38 million, a figure that could rise to around £42 million depending on performances. United are working frantically behind the scenes in order to conclude the deal even as the team prepares for a hectic schedule of fixtures.
Eric Bailly will be departing to the African Cup of Nations 2017 with Ivory Coast and may not be back until the end of January. Lindelof is expected to go straight into the starting line-up if reports are to be believed. The Swedish youngster is currently on a contract worth around £8000 a week, and it expires in the summer of 2020. He shares the same agent as Jose Mourinho – Jorge Mendes. The super-agent is believed to have worked together with United to agree a tremendous pay rise for his client.
Lindelof is expected to wear the No 2 shirt at Manchester United given that his favourite No 14 is taken up by Jesse Lingard. (via Daily Star)
Rumours about United making a possible move for the 22-year-old came about a few months ago. Since then, there has been swift progress and Benfica have been unable to prevent the move. The Portuguese outfit did even try to extend the player’s contract and insert a £60 million release clause, but this was not possible due to the swift move made by United. Securing the player on a long-term contract would have enabled Benfica to have demanded even more transfer fee, but they are likely to be more than happy with this extraordinary figure. Benfica have made a tremendous profit on the player who was signed in 2012 from Swedish outfit.
Lindelof has received the vote of confidence straight away from his countryman Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The superstar believes that the youngster has already shown that he is more than good enough to play for a number of top clubs around the world. He expects Lindelof to come good even at Manchester United where there is tremendous pressure compared to life at Benfica. Ibrahimovic also admitted that there was tremendous interest surrounding Lindelof. He said:
“I think Victor is doing great things, he is playing good for Benfica, he gets a lot of responsibility for the national team now, he is growing.
“Is he good enough for United? I think he’s good enough for the big clubs out there. It’s up to him what he wants. Whatever he chooses will be good for him.”
