Victor Lindelof has made it emphatically clear that he wants to stay at Manchester United this summer amid interest from Barcelona.
The Swede, signed by the club in 2017, was one of Man United’s most consistent performers last season, producing a number of commanding appearances at the back.
Barcelona are in the market for another central defender and reportedly launched a bid for the 24-year-old last week.
However, Lindelof made it clear during Tuesday’s press conference that he was going nowhere this summer.
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Lindelof is arguably the only first-team defender – Axel Tuanzebe excluded – who should definitely not be sold. The rest, as has been pointed out, are either not good enough or injury-prone, or both.
The Ice Man may be happy at United now, but he will grow wearisome if the club fails to install a proper central defender who knows the Premier League and does not get injured easily.
That is why securing Harry Maguire as a defensive partner for Lindelof is so crucial. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer cannot hope for consistency in performances over a nine-month period if the central defenders are changing on a weekly basis.
Lindelof is good enough to be a constant in this starting XI, but that alone is pointless unless he has a reliable partner alongside him.