Bharath Rammr
Portuguese clubs have been some of the biggest exporters of some top talent in world football. They have specialised in the art of procuring young Brazilian talent much earlier than other clubs in Europe start scouting. In recent years, however, Portuguese clubs seem to have spread their wings. Victor Lindelof is a player who is catching the attention of Europe’s top clubs and he is currently with Benfica. He does not hail from Portugal or Brazil, as the 22-year-old is a Sweden export.
And recently, his agent of the player has claimed that a number of top clubs have been taking a look at his client, while a move could not be far away. Manchester United are thought to be one of the parties interested in signing the young defender. As cited by Euro Sport, his agent said:
“I don’t want to comment on various clubs but there is concrete interest from some of the biggest in Europe. He really enjoys it at Benfica. At the same time, as I have said before, there is no smoke without fire when it comes to that.
“Many clubs are interested in him, but Victor is focused on Benfica.”
There are quite a few of talented Swedish players around with the most notable being Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The 35-year-old is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, and he recently joined Manchester United on a one-year contract. The club have recently revealed their decision to extend his contract by another year, as Jose Mourinho is extremely impressed with the way Ibrahimovic has been a huge motivation to the club’s youngsters.
United will have reasons to believe that the presence of Ibrahimovic will be a huge motivating factor in convincing the player to move to Old Trafford. Further, his presence for the next 18 months will also help the players settle at Old Trafford.
The player’s agent refused to reveal the names of the interested clubs, but it is widely thought that United are one of the parties as they are actively seeking someone who can play alongside Eric Bailly. The £30 million acquisition from Villarreal in the summer has given belief around the club that they have finally found the replacement for Nemanja Vidic; now, the small matter of finding a proper replacement for Rio Ferdinand seems to be the only task left.
Mourinho has made it clear that he does not have a lot of faith in Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw, as he has publicly criticised both these players.
Signing Victor Lindelof will not be easy or cheap, as the player is valued at around €12 million. However, Benfica almost certain to demand more than twice the figure in order to let him go since the player has a contract with the club until the summer of 2020. His market value has shot up as a result of making his international debut in March 2016.
Benfica managed to prize him away from Swedish outfit Västerås SK for only around €60,000. They could be set for a massive payday if the interest goes to the next level.
