Manchester United are reportedly closing in on Swedish defender Victor Lindelof from Benfica.
The 22-year-old has a 37.8 million pound release clause and is wanted by Jose Mourinho as depth for the United back line.
Centre-back Eric Bailly is expected to come back soon from the knee injury he picked up in the team’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace but will soon join the Cote D’Ivoire national team for the African Cup of Nations in January.
The United defenders
Lindelof plays centre-back so he would be joining the likes of Marcos Rojo, Bailly, Phil Jones, and Chris Smalling fighting for a place in the backline. Smalling is finally fit again from injury but is being slowly eased back into the team; he was named on the bench in the team’s 2-0 win over West Brom and even came on as a stoppage-time substitute for Ander Herrera.
Jones and Rojo have impressed over the time that the usual starting duo of Smalling and Bailly have been out but with Smalling back and the potential move for Lindelof, both are likely to lose their place in the team’s starting XI.
Mourinho also plans on using Lindelof as a potential replacement at right back. Antonio Valencia has impressed as the starting right back this year, and the only replacement for him is Matteo Darmian who has struggled when on the pitch this season.
More on Lindelof
The 22-year-old Swede was part of Sweden’s Under-21 European Championship winning team. He was not named to the team originally but replaced Emil Krafth after he was ruled out with a back injury. He scored the team’s final penalty in the final against Portugal and was named to the Team of the Tournament.
He picked up his first cap for Sweden against Turkey this past March. He started in all three of Sweden’s Euro 2016 group stage matches.