Victor Lindelof’s agent has said that Barcelona were interested in signing the Manchester United centre-back in the summer.
The 25-year-old has been a regular for the Red Devils since joining them from Benfica, making 75 appearances so far. He signed a new five-year contract with the Red Devils less than two weeks back. Lindelof has featured in all of Manchester United’s Premier League matches so far.
However, the 25-year-old could’ve joined Barcelona as his agent Hasan Cetinkaya said that the Blaugrana made him their target after Matthijs de Ligt joined Juventus. As quoted by Goal.com, Cetinkaya told Swedish daily Aftonbladet: “Lindelof was perhaps Man Utd’s best player last season, and there was a lot of interest from clubs that are even better [than United] at the moment. When Matthijs de Ligt chose Juventus, Victor was pronounced Barcelona’s first choice.
“His way of playing, his DNA, is very close to Barcelona’s way of playing. He is one of the world’s best centre-backs with the ball at his feet, and Barcelona wanted him. That’s how it was. I can talk about that now. They contacted Ed Woodward on numerous occasions with concrete offers. I had a meeting with their transfer manager, Matt Judge, to try to make a transition. But they just said: ‘There is no chance. Victor is one of our best players’. It ended up being a new agreement instead, even though Victor actually had three years left. Usually, they do not make extensions with players who have so long left on the contract, but when there was an interest at this level they had no other option.”
It’s a good thing Manchester United managed to keep hold of Lindelof. He may not be performing very good at the moment but he’s one of the best options they’ve got at centre-back.
Manchester United are currently 8th in the Premier League table after six matches. They play their next match against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Monday.
