“I think Victor Lindelof 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,” were the words of Zlatan Ibrahimovic on compatriot Victor Nilsson Linfelof who is reported to be on the verge of joining ibrahimovic in Manchester United for around €45 million in the winter, having failed to move to Aitor Karanka’s Middlesbrough on loan in January.
Manchester United for some games now appear defensively stable after recording three straight wins in a row last week since August. In central defence Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones have being the bedrock of the team and even outperforming first choice pairing Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling who have both struggled with injury this campaign. United (6th in the table) have a very poor goal difference of seven which is on the low compared to the 5th placed Tottenham (17) and 4th placed Arsenal (19).
For a side competing with the best for the Premier League, United have been let down by their defence this season conceding 17 goals keeping only six clean sheets in 17 league games this season which compares poorly with leaders Chelsea who have recorded 10 clean sheets and 11 goals conceded.
For €46 million , Lindelof might seem expensive considering he will have to be given considerable time to adapt to the physical style of the Premier League. In football, nothing is certain yet until it happens and that is the danger in signing the Swede considering the likes of Eloaquim Mangala, John Stones and Nicholas Otamendi all flopped in Manchester City despite costing above €40 million.
With a near perfect positioning and pace coupled with his height (6ft 2) which will help United in defence, Lindelof has every attribute to be one of the best in the game if he continues to develop at this pace, Also worthy of mention is the centre-back’s ability to play without fouling his opponents. Statistically the defender has incurred only six yellow cards in 41 appearances for club and country since January better still one yellow card in 19 games in all competitions this season .
This season, Lindelof has been ever present in Benfica’s defence as the Lisbon club are four points ahead, conceding only seven league goals losing only eight points from 15 league games. The centre-back is a left footed ball playing defender having appeared in over over 50 matches (22 games for Benfica) while still 22 years. The defender signed for Benfica from Vasteras in 2011 December winning the league with Benfica last season (having won 14 out of 15 league games with Benfica).
On the international scene, the defender was called up in March 2016 for Sweden going on to play in the European Championship in the summer in France, although Sweden will finish bottom of their group with Ireland, Belgium and Italy finishing ahead of them.
With Marcos Rojo improving yet committing careless and unnecessary fouls in threatening areas and also Chris Smallimg failing to live up to his early United form , there is need for a top class defender to partner Eric Bailly not just for a few season but for the long haul just like the pairing of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Matic with Phil Jones acting as back-up. Once United’s defensive problem is sorted out, it will allow the attackers the freedom to play to their strengths of finishing off defensive minded teams and keeping clean sheets. For now, the signing of Lindelof is not only one for the present but also one for the future if it as expected turns out a good investment.
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