Victor Lindelöf

[Brophs]

Because he is grateful to the club that launched his career, something that seems to be rare these days. He is not backstabbing any club with this. If the club wants him, than it should pay his price, regardless of the release fee.

The club that launched his career is Vasteras. He's played 30 odd first team games for Benfica in something like four years. Signing a new deal so that his old club get far more than he'll apparently be worth in 6 months, seems quite odd to me. If he wants to sign for us, do it, without the pageantry. If he wants to keep Benfica happy, stop fannying around, refuse the move and spend a few more years there.

 

[LouisDanGaal]

Why would we be happy to do that? Makes no sense.

We wouldn't be but it makes sense for benfica and he may have loyalty to them.

 

[SammyUnited_83]

We wouldn't be but it makes sense for benfica and he may have loyalty to them.

I don't get it. Doesn't make sense to me and if we are being made to pay more money I would just walk away.

Personally think it's a stupid decision by the player, sure benfica would make a tidy profit regardless.

 

[RedRover]

Just can't get into this transfer, he could potentially just end up a 4th/5th choice CB, would much rather get that Semedo one wrapped up, i don't feel we really need a CB too much, and if we were to get one i was expecting a more seasoned player tbh

Mourinho won't be paying big money for a player who isn't going to play. Evidently he thinks he has a big future.

Jones and Rojo have played well together but have consistently struggled with form and fitness over their time at the club. They're unreliable and as a result, Mourinho is likely to bring in players he thinks will be long term fixtures.

 

[LouisDanGaal]

I don't get it. Doesn't make sense to me and if we are being made to pay more money I would just walk away.

Personally think it's a stupid decision by the player, sure benfica would make a tidy profit regardless.

It would be a case of the player screwing us over in a sense to ensure benfica get a good deal. We might walk away. No idea if the story is true or not or how we are expected to react if it is true.

 

[MANUTD1993]

We don't need him in the first place,we already have Bailly,Jones & Rojo who are playing very well, we also have Smalling and a couple of youngsters with potential, normally as far as CB's are concerned teams normally have 2 first team players who play week in week out and couple of squad players for cover like when we had Rio & Vidic who were our first choice and we had Brown & O'Shea for cover, if we are to sign him we must be definitely selling 3 of them at least.

 

[AndyJ1985]

We don't need him in the first place,we already have Bailly,Jones & Rojo who are playing very well, we also have Smalling and a couple of youngsters with potential, normally as far as CB's are concerned teams normally have 2 first team players who play week in week out and couple of squad players for cover like when we had Rio & Vidic who were our first choice and we had Brown & O'Shea for cover, if we are to sign him we must be definitely selling 3 of them at least.

It doesn't matter how many defenders we have. If we can improve on what we have then we should.

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

Not a chance we'd stand by whilst he raises the asking price for us, we'd rightly to just walk away.

Not sure what it'd be, but if this goes through for the higher fee then somewhere it has to be beneficial to us, and Benfica.

 

[P-Nut]

Not a chance we'd stand by whilst he raises the asking price for us, we'd rightly to just walk away.

Not sure what it'd be, but if this goes through for the higher fee then somewhere it has to be beneficial to us, and Benfica.

Semedo in the summer

 

[Bogga]

Rumours that he'll sign a new contract. I'd rather see us go for Semedo now in January. If you look at our central defense and the form Jones and Rojo have found, Baillys impressive games and Smalling behind that... do you think that position is the one we should strengthen?

 

[Antisocial]

So has this all been the good old classic 'leak interest from Man United to put pressure on during contract talks', or is there too much smoke at this stage?

 

[OzKangarooney]

Mourinho won't be paying big money for a player who isn't going to play. Evidently he thinks he has a big future.

Jones and Rojo have played well together but have consistently struggled with form and fitness over their time at the club. They're unreliable and as a result, Mourinho is likely to bring in players he thinks will be long term fixtures.

Well Bailly will be #1 and i still believe Smalling is #2, for some reason everyone has written him off even though he was one of our best last season, with a good mixture of back ups after that, i feel we have more important positions to try and fill that we should be looking at first. However we really have no idea the availabilities of any of these players and we seem to have almost wrapped this guy up before the windows even started so maybe it was just an easy target

 

[AltiUn]

Not a chance we'd stand by whilst he raises the asking price for us, we'd rightly to just walk away.

Not sure what it'd be, but if this goes through for the higher fee then somewhere it has to be beneficial to us, and Benfica.

Have a feeling that the benefit you mentioned would be them allowing us to sign Semedo now instead of summer when competition for his signature would be more difficult.

 

[khoazany]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if we don't sign anyone out of him and Semedo. Actually I think there's more chance that we'll sign Semedo than Lindelof.

 

[ti vu]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if we didn't sign anyone out of him and Semedo. Actually I think there's more chance that we'll sign Semedo than Lindelof.

How's so? Anything to do with Benfica players for some reasons tends to be close to signing for us then nothing happened? Gaitan, Garay, Renato Sanchez...

 

[khoazany]

How's so? Anything to do with Benfica players for some reasons tends to be close to signing for us then nothing happened? Gaitan, Garay, Renato Sanchez...

More often than not they use our name to get a better contract, or put pressure to other bidding clubs, or just agents work to promote their clients. If I'm not wrong Renato Sanchez was the only one that we really went for.

Same with those Barca youth players over the years.

I don't have any insider info on Lindelof obviously just don't think this transfer makes sense.

 

[sunama]

Well Bailly will be #1 and i still believe Smalling is #2, for some reason everyone has written him off even though he was one of our best last season, ...

When Baily is fit, he immediately goes into the first team.
When Smalling is fit, he sits on the bench. That's the difference.
And regarding Smalling last season: under LVG's ultra defensive style with 2 defensive midfielders, he was good. No doubt about that. But the moment he was asked to defend with in an attacking team, he fell to pieces. Remember that LCFC game, back when our team was built to attack (while he was on the pitch, we conceded 4 goals)? And recently, under Jose, he was part of the team we conceded 4 goals.
I think in an ultra defensive setup, Smalling has proven to do well. But when we set up to attack (where our CBs may be left isolated and will probably be required to go 1v1 with an attacker), he is extremely poor.
Both P.Jones (when fit) and Rojo, have proved that they can handle opposition attackers, while our midfielders focus on attack.

 

[Bestie07]

We have already got five first team players who can play at the center back position at a fairly high level, so I just fail to see the point in us being linked with him unless he is the next Baresi. And the fee mentioned isn't exactly peanuts either.

 

[Loublaze]

When Baily is fit, he immediately goes into the first team.
When Smalling is fit, he sits on the bench. That's the difference.
And regarding Smalling last season: under LVG's ultra defensive style with 2 defensive midfielders, he was good. No doubt about that. But the moment he was asked to defend with in an attacking team, he fell to pieces. Remember that LCFC game, back when our team was built to attack (while he was on the pitch, we conceded 4 goals)? And recently, under Jose, he was part of the team we conceded 4 goals.
I think in an ultra defensive setup, Smalling has proven to do well. But when we set up to attack (where our CBs may be left isolated and will probably be required to go 1v1 with an attacker), he is extremely poor.
Both P.Jones (when fit) and Rojo, have proved that they can handle opposition attackers, while our midfielders focus on attack.

Utter rubbish for you to discredit Smalling's efforts last season this way especially when you consider he was very aggressive last season. Its not like he was just sitting at the back in formation being shielded by two defensive mids. Also, in the Leicester City game in 2014 Smalling was not even match fit. He was just back from injury and had to come in for Evans in the 30th minute alongside Blackett and a terrible Rojo. No one at this club handles 1v1s better than Smalling. You say he's 'extremely poor' in this respect but you're dead wrong. He's handled Willian, Aguero, Defoe, Alexis, Lukaku, Welbeck, Kane and Vardy easily in 1v1s over the last two seasons but maybe you've forgot. Furthermore, when Smalling returned from injury early this season he went straight into the first team and took over Blind's spot alongside Bailly. He also got a few minutes in his first game back to fitness against WBA. Bailly sat on the bench on his return against Spurs and came on for Mkhitaryan in the 85th minute in midfield, the same role Smalling was given against WBA so whats this 'he sits on the bench while Bailly gets into the first team' nonsense?

 

[Loublaze]

Why are people excited about Semedo? hes a right back isn't he so surely won't be ahead of tony v in the pecking order.

Valencia is 31 going on 32, Semedo is 23. We'll need a new RB eventually

 

[devilish]

Utter rubbish for you to discredit Smalling's efforts last season this way especially when you consider he was very aggressive last season. Its not like he was just sitting at the back in formation being shielded by two defensive mids. Also, in the Leicester City game in 2014 Smalling was not even match fit. He was just back from injury and had to come in for Evans in the 30th minute alongside Blackett and a terrible Rojo. No one at this club handles 1v1s better than Smalling. You say he's 'extremely poor' in this respect but I have video evidence that suggests the opposite. He's handled Willian, Alexis, Lukaku, Welbeck, Kane and Vardy easily in 1v1s over the last two seasons but maybe you've forgot. Furthermore, when Smalling returned from injury early this season he went straight into the first team and took over Blind's spot alongside Bailly. He also got a few minutes in his first game back to fitness against WBA. Bailly sat on the bench on his return against Spurs and came on for Mkhitaryan in the 85th minute in midfield, the same role Smalling was given against WBA so whats this 'he sits on the bench while Bailly gets into the first team' nonsense?

we did play the most defensive football in United history though, so he's got a point

 

[Loublaze]

we did play the most defensive football in United history though, so he's got a point

Does that explain how Smalling developed into a very proactive centerback last season? He was covering for Valencia many times and handling the physical stuff that Blind struggled with. He was basically a one man show out there sometimes. He won 121 aerial duels, more than any other CB in the league bar Van Dijk. You can't dismiss all that and say he was protected by two defensive mids and an ultra defensive system all the time

 

[devilish]

Does that explain how Smalling developed into a very proactive centerback last season? He was covering for Valencia many times and handling the physical stuff that Blind struggled with. He was basically a one man show out there sometimes. He won 121 aerial duels, more than any other CB in the league bar Van Dijk. You can't dismiss all that and say he was protected by two defensive mids and an ultra defensive system all the time

All I am saying is that LVG's philosophy (2 DMs, a ball possession obsession, slow build up from the back etc) helped the defence greatly to the expense of creating chances upfront. There's no doubt that Smalling can win aerial duels. The guy is 6ft4. However one must explain why, despite having so much 'talent' in CBs we weren't able to play a regular back four even since Rio, Vidic and Evra left. The only regular first team player in defence is a frigging winger. That's unacceptable and that is the issue Mourinho will look to sort first. If Smalling hates competition then he should have never left Maidstone United in the first place

 

[Loublaze]

All I am saying is that LVG's philosophy (2 DMs, a ball possession obsession, slow build up from the back etc) helped the defence greatly to the expense of creating chances upfront. There's no doubt that Smalling can win aerial duels. The guy is 6ft4. However one must explain why, despite having so much 'talent' in CBs we weren't able to play a regular back four even since Rio, Vidic and Evra left. The only regular first team player in defence is a frigging winger. That's unacceptable and that is the issue Mourinho will look to sort first. If Smalling hates competition then he should have never left Maidstone United in the first place

I never said competition is bad. Im sure every player worth their salt relishes it. Jones and Rojo do not deserve to be dropped on current form, but all this unjust criticism of Smalling is pointless and thats what I was responding to. We haven't had a settled back four because of a combination of bad injury records under Moyes and LVG and mixed to poor form from our defenders. Shaw has been struggling with fitness since his transfer, and this is probably Jones longest run without injury since Fergie left!

Rojo has been largely shit until the last 8 or so games. This is his purple patch but even that would've been disrupted had he been correctly sent off on two separate occasions. The only defenders who have really shown their worth for an extended period of time since Fergie's departure have been Valencia and Smalling. Blind has a case too but he was never destined to be seen as a pure CB. Jones and Rojo are having their moment in the sun and they need more of these performances over a longer period to really convince me that they're truly over their problems. Smalling and Blind did very well last year no matter what people say about our defensive strategies. They both played close to 50 games last season. Can Rojo and Jones carry the defense for the rest of the season?

 

[Ekeke]

Chief mentioned it earlier in the thread, but what if actually we're buying him to sit in midfield in Carrick's role?

The best thing about him is his passing and ability on the ball but he has some defensive qualities too and therefore could be trusted to sense danger and snuff it out.

 

[AgentP]

Chief mentioned it earlier in the thread, but what if actually we're buying him to sit in midfield in Carrick's role?

The best thing about him is his passing and ability on the ball but he has some defensive qualities too and therefore could be trusted to sense danger and snuff it out.

Has he ever played in that position before? We won't randomly buy a player for more than 30m pounds and play him in a completely different position than he is used to. Jose might have felt he needed a CB after Smalling and Bailly's injury. No one expected Jones and Rojo to do so well and we still don't know if they will be able to play well for a prolonged period without getting injured.

 

[AgentP]

I like how we are going in for defenders like Bailly and Lindelof who are relatively unknown compared to City who are signing the most hyped defenders like Mangala, Otamendi, Stones and now linked with Van Dijk. I'm pretty confident that Bailly will be a mainstay in our team and I hope Lindelof is as good as him.

 

[Ekeke]

Has he ever played in that position before? We won't randomly buy a player for more than 30m pounds and play him in a completely different position than he is used to. Jose might have felt he needed a CB after Smalling and Bailly's injury. No one expected Jones and Rojo to do so well and we still don't know if they will be able to play well for a prolonged period without getting injured.

I have no idea if hes ever played in CM, he hasnt played much football at all although he has played right back.

 

[Gianni]

How highly do you rate him? His YouTube video posted on here looked class but it's not a particularly great way to judge a player.

Solid CB that will naturally improve and become one of the best IMO. From what I have seen, he is the kind of player that has a very low probability rate of failing to become a top class CB.

 

[Gianni]

The club that launched his career is Vasteras. He's played 30 odd first team games for Benfica in something like four years. Signing a new deal so that his old club get far more than he'll apparently be worth in 6 months, seems quite odd to me. If he wants to sign for us, do it, without the pageantry. If he wants to keep Benfica happy, stop fannying around, refuse the move and spend a few more years there.

He is worth what the clubs are willing to pay for him. If Benfica thinks that Man Utd is willing to pay more than 30M€ for him, why shouldn't the player accept to set a higher release clause? It's up to Man Utd to decide if the player is worth it or not. No guns are being pointed. The player is accepting the risk of not getting sold, simple as that.

 

[RedRover]

Well Bailly will be #1 and i still believe Smalling is #2, for some reason everyone has written him off even though he was one of our best last season, with a good mixture of back ups after that, i feel we have more important positions to try and fill that we should be looking at first. However we really have no idea the availabilities of any of these players and we seem to have almost wrapped this guy up before the windows even started so maybe it was just an easy target

Again, if he had faith in Smalling as a long term fixture then why spend £40 million on another centre back?

I think Mourinho has a set plan of what areas he needs to address and is probs my aware it'll take a few transfer windows to shape the squad he wants. A solid defence is usually the cornerstone of his side though so I can see why he'd prioritise that now.

 

[RedRover]

I like how we are going in for defenders like Bailly and Lindelof who are relatively unknown compared to City who are signing the most hyped defenders like Mangala, Otamendi, Stones and now linked with Van Dijk. I'm pretty confident that Bailly will be a mainstay in our team and I hope Lindelof is as good as him.

To be fair, Van Dijk looks a class act. A few big clubs will be cursing lettinghim join Southampton given the fees they're talking about now.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

So has this all been the good old classic 'leak interest from Man United to put pressure on during contract talks', or is there too much smoke at this stage?

Pure guesswork on my part, but if Mendes is (as reported) close to Lindelof's camp - and I know he is close to Benfica - then it might be a very smart ploy to get more money for Lindelof from another club, by using United's name. Something I'm sure Mourinho (his client) wouldn't mind him doing, especially if it means a favor it return down the line.

 

[Garethw]

If he's about to sign a new contract then surely it's because we've dropped our interest in him.

You don't jeopardise a huge move out of some perverse loyalty to a club you've only been at for a few years. If he signs that contract it's because our interest in him is dead.

 

[OzKangarooney]

Again, if he had faith in Smalling as a long term fixture then why spend £40 million on another centre back?

I think Mourinho has a set plan of what areas he needs to address and is probs my aware it'll take a few transfer windows to shape the squad he wants. A solid defence is usually the cornerstone of his side though so I can see why he'd prioritise that now.

Fair enough, i still feel as though we should be looking to fill in a few other spots first, however we really have no idea who or when he is planning on trying to get others.

 

[Ekeke]

If he's about to sign a new contract then surely it's because we've dropped our interest in him.

You don't jeopardise a huge move out of some perverse loyalty to a club you've only been at for a few years. If he signs that contract it's because our interest in him is dead.

Its most likely to do with the dispute between Benfica and his previous club. Probably a sell on fee in there, and if they give him a new contract they get to keep all the money themselves.

 

[Dong Fangzhuo]

Its most likely to do with the dispute between Benfica and his previous club. Probably a sell on fee in there, and if they give him a new contract they get to keep all the money themselves.

Why would him signing a new contract void a sell on clause between the two clubs? That's not how it works or sell-on clauses would be completely pointless as everyone would do exactly that.

 

[Cheekiey]

I'd get Semedo and Grimaldo ahead of Lindelof, Benfica actually have 2 great young fullback in the making

 

[khoazany]

Pure guesswork on my part, but if Mendes is (as reported) close to Lindelof's camp - and I know he is close to Benfica - then it might be a very smart ploy to get more money for Lindelof from another club, by using United's name. Something I'm sure Mourinho (his client) wouldn't mind him doing, especially if it means a favor it return down the line.

Sounds like conspiracy theory but I actually think it's very likely to be the case.

 

[United Pro]

I'd get Semedo and Grimaldo ahead of Lindelof, Benfica actually have 2 great young fullback in the making

I rate Shaw over Grimaldo, but they do have 2 great young full backs. Similar to what Porto had a few seasons back with Danilo and Sandro.