Bharath Rammr
Manchester United were highly thought to be considering the transfer of Victor Lindelof with several events suggesting that the transfer may be completed even before the January transfer window begun. There were reports of the player being assigned a shirt number amidst reports that he could straightaway replace Eric Bailly who was departing for the African Cup of Nations. Yet, it has not been the case since just before the transfer window begun United started backing out of the transfer. The reasons could not be more obvious, as United started performing well in defence over the last few months.
Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo formed an incredible partnership and it was believed to be one of the primary reasons behind manager José Mourinho calling of the transfer. At £38 million, Lindelof would have been one of the most expensive defenders in the world. It would have represented a significant transfer outlay at a time when the club also had an expenditure of £150 million in the summer. Even though the deal looked to have been done, United pulling out at the last moment has made it look unlikely that Lindelof would leave the Portuguese outfit in January.
Now the recent report from the Daily Mirror has claimed that Lindelof to Manchester United deal may not be dead and buried and the Devils are set to make a decision on whether or not to sign Victor Lindelof this week.. United are still considering the possibility of signing the player and letting some of the existing names at the club leave. Among the names who may be on the transfer list sooner rather than later are Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw. Both players have not been the favourable personnel under Jose Mourinho since the start of the season. Even though Smalling has at least played in 11 league matches, Shaw has featured in only seven games so far.
More worryingly, Shaw has not featured in any game since the EFL Cup appearance against West Ham back in November. Smalling did play the 90 minutes in the recent game against Stoke City, but the lack of a clean sheet and no spectacular performance could lead to his transfer sooner rather than later.
United may postpone the Lindelof transfer to the summer and may sign him, if he still remains available, for a proper settling in experience.
