Manchester United’s Victor Lindelöf is not assured of his future under Jose Mourinho and reportedly wants to communicate his intentions to the United boss. After making the switch to the Premier League ahead of the present campaign, the 23-year-old has managed to appear sporadically in 22 games behind the likes of Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones.
This is of course not the exact course he had planned on taking when he Benfica to side with the English giants but unfortunately, Mourinho only sees him as a backup option and not a regular starter.
His minutes are decent for a youngster in his debut season but Lindelöf is ambitious and wants to make his mark for the senior side especially when first-choice Bailly has been on the sidelines for over 3 months now. Blessed with multitudinous skills under his feet, Lindelöf can be fielded almost anywhere on the defensive line other than the goalkeeping position.
He has been utilised in the back three on some occasions and in the right-back role by the Portuguese tactician. While he did show glimpses of magic, the Swedish international is yet to find his feet in the English game.
United’s defensive problems in recent times has been compounded with the side losing to Newcastle United last week 1 goal to nil. Jones has struggled to find a consistent bit of form and very unimaginatively guided in Kevin Trippier’s grounded cross into his own goal in the 0-2 loss to Tottenham Hotspur on 1st February.
Chris Smalling has also been an uninspiring presence and lacks in the sharpness department when the game is really on the line and oppositions start to get a grip on the games offensively. Daley blind has hardly featured for the team at all this season and Mourinho was ready to offload him in January.
Matteo Darmian is better suited to the right backs and has been banished to the benches along with Luke Shaw who has not appeared on the left-back role after being handed a promising start to the year with 5 starts.
It looks like Mourinho will continue with Ashley Young as a makeshift option on the left and Antonio Valencia on the right. He is also scoring the market for defensive additions that he can make in the summer window and this has put Lindelöf on the edge.
But his failure to meet the standards of the former Galactico boss and the pace of the English game, a frank conversation is more than necessary to rif out all the unspoken words, which could have caused such a predicament. He is better off biding his time with the league contenders and work his way into the Premier League football – who knows maybe he will able to carve out a key role next season.
