Victor Lindelof is on the verge of a move to Manchester United, if reports are to be believed. The claims started in Portugal, and have of course been covered by the English media too.
Many players have been in this situation and then never ended up at Old Trafford, so there’s no guarantees.
But what of Lindelof? How does a player go from being known by only a few who don’t follow his club or country, to possibly being the second most expensive Swedish footballer of all time… all in less than a year?
Sweden’s Aftonbladet look at it on Tuesday, and whilst there’s clearly excitement at the possible transfer, analysis from their journalist Patrik Brenning is to the point and sensible.
The Swedish perspective is that it’s been a huge leap for Lindelof over the past year, even without the Manchester United transfer.
What shines through in Aftonbladet’s report is that Lindelof has character. Rather than a huge transfer fee being a hindrance, Brenning believes it helps: ‘I am also pleased that the sum becomes huge. This means that United, regardless of any coaching changes, will be forced to really give Nilsson Lindelof both trust and the time to take the important role he’s expected to get.’
It’s clear Brenning has been impressed by Lindelof’s make-up, with his character stated as being rare in football these days. That makes a big fee a boost rather than a hindrance, it’s argued, and could be a big reason behind Jose Mourinho being interested.
Lindelof hasn’t been a monster defender like Eliaquim Mangala was for Porto. The hype built up this season has been based on good performances, but it’s not a case of watching Benfica and thinking ‘Who’s that guy?!’
If you’d been watching Benfica a year ago, you’d have struggled to see him. Lindelof only strongly broke through from February onward. In the last January window, Lindelof had been close to completing a loan to Middlesbrough, who were then in the Championship.
During the early summer, when interest from several clubs was reported, a fee of around €20m was pushed around in Portugal as being appropriate.
Thirteen Liga NOS games later, and remember he hasn’t been standout-on-my-God-amazing, and Lindelof could be going to Manchester United for €45m, with A Bola reckoning ‘premium bonuses’ could see the deal being worth €60m one day.
It looks pretty ridiculous for the 22 year old and the larger figures probably are, the whole thing is very strange, especially given the situation with his clause and an impending renewal (read more on that here).
But it’s that character described by Aftonbladet which could be the clincher for Mourinho. More than half the battle for Manchester United when signing players is picking ones mentally suitable for the role.
The pressure is only matched at a few clubs the world over, and it only seems to rise year upon year.
Under Sir Alex Ferguson it was widely known that Manchester United wouldn’t simply buy a footballer, they’d buy the man. Whilst sending spies to see if young footballers go out partying too much may not be needed any longer, because we’d all find out on social media anyway, learning of a player’s character is hugely important and too often overlooked.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be able to give Mourinho some insight on Lindelof, and may have already done so. Lindelof’s performances don’t justify him being one of the most expensive defenders on the planet, but his character may well suggest he can use his talent to get to that level.
