Manchester United have no plans to sell Victor Lindelof this summer, according to a report by Mundo Deportivo.
Hasan Cetinkaya, the player’s agent, is thought to have met with club officials in London on Friday to try and get a move to Barcelona for his client. However, he has since revealed that the Premier League outfit do not want to see their Swedish centre-back leave.
Mundo Deportivo have claimed Manchester United made it clear to Cetinkaya that Lindelof was not available for a transfer as they state in quotes “we do not want to sell because he is a very important player for our project.”
Lindelof became a key player for Manchester United last season and clearly grew into his role in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side as the campaign went on. As documented by Sky Sports back in January, he improved significantly as time went by and began to look like the central defender the club have desperately needed.
Lindelof received plenty of praise last season from both Jose Mourinho and Solskjaer for his performances at the back. His former boss had called him ‘brave’ and a ‘fantastic example’ (MEN) whereas his current manager gave him public recognition for how well he had been performing.
“Against PSG, in the last 20 minutes, I know they were 2-0 up so they were happy, but I thought we held our own and Victor back there marshalled the troops, so we can go there and score a goal and make it chaotic in the last 15 or 20 minutes,” he told the club’s official website ahead of their second-leg with PSG back in March.
“He’s a big, big plus. His performances have risen and really improved. He’s playing more on the left side; he started really well on the right side with Phil Jones, now Chris Smalling has come in and done really well, so he’s had loads of partners to play with. I think he’s easy to play with for the other centre backs because he’s so reliable”.
Indeed, according to his stats by WhoScored, the Sweden international’s praise was deserved as he was ranked as their best centre-back option last season as he made an average of 1.3 tackles and 0.8 interceptions in the 30 Premier League matches he featured in.
It will be interesting to see if Barcelona or Cetinkaya look to push for a move as the summer transfer window progresses. However, Manchester United simply cannot allow him to go under any circumstances.
Going based on the stats that were recorded and Manchester United’s desperate need to improve the defence, after conceding 54 goals last season in the top-flight, losing Lindelof this summer could have been a disaster for Solskjaer’s side.
As WhoScored’s data revealed, statistically, he was the Red Devils’ best centre-back last season and clearly seemed to get a lot better as the campaign progressed.
Man Utd fans, how big of a blow would it be to lose Lindelof this summer if he were to leave the club? Let us know your thoughts below by sharing them in the comment section!
