Nah, he’ll stick around as useful backup. He’s not a starter but he’s decent as a squad player. If we are losing Varane, and maybe Maguire will go this summer, we can’t be changing ALL our CB in one go this summer. Plus we need reliable backup at LCB for Licha, before we even replace any of our current player!
He isnt reliable.
Our backups should be CBs who defend better than him, or play similarly to Lisandro and specialize in taking the ball and passing out from the back. Lindelof does neither role well enough. He can occasionally play a very nice ball over the backline when he has time, space and a runner no doubt about it. And when there is space in front of him he will happily run the ball forward into that space. But then he plays a safe 100% pass to the side not making anything out of it.
When pressed he panics as much as our other CBs. On the other side of things he's happy to chase a ball in behind the defence, but will be extremely tentative and slow to confront an attacker who has the ball. I doubt you'll ever see a less aggressive CB unless its a midfielder playing CB. And I watched Lerma and Cook both play CB for their teams in the Bournemouth and Palace match and they were still more aggressive. He has improved in the air and by the numbers he wins a fair amount. The problem is Maguire and Varane are both at their best in that area. So he's 3rd choice "Clear high balls out of the box" CB
Of course Maguire isnt leaving after getting back in the team. Varane and Lindelof? If we're serious about defending properly, or we want to play out from the back very well then we'll change both.