Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof looks dejected. (Getty Images)
Victor Lindelof was one of Manchester United’s best players from the previous campaign.
The Swede became one of the first-choice centre-backs after Jose Mourinho was sacked and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over the job.
The 25-year-old has remained one of the first-choice defenders after Harry Maguire joined in the summer, and has done a decent job so far.
However, it could have been different for the Swede with his agent, Hasan Cetinkaya, claiming that Barcelona were interested in him.
The agent told Aftonbladet (h/t Express) that the Catalan giants wanted Lindelof after failing to land Matthijs de Ligt.
Barca had contacted Ed Woodward with “concrete offers”, however, the Swede remained at the club, according to the agent.
Rejecting advances from the Catalan giants is never easy, especially when they are targeting a rising star.
However, Manchester United put their foot down and handed Lindelof a new deal too. The 25-year-old has the potential to become one of the best defenders in the Premier League but still needs to work on his game.
United had to ensure that Lindelof remained as they needed a quality partner for Maguire. The Red Devils could have sold the Swede for a decent sum but then they would have been in the market for two quality defenders.
The Red Devils needed to strengthen other areas of the team too, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka joining for a huge sum of money too.
United have had their problems with the centre-backs last season and needed to keep their most impressive performers.
Chris Smalling left, despite having a decent season with the Red Devils, but the likes of Eric Bailly and Phil Jones had average seasons last time around.
Marcos Rojo has been on the periphery of the first-team, though he did play in the Carabao Cup clash in midweek.
Maguire and Lindelof is the future pairing for the Red Devils too, and they could become one of the best should their development continue in the coming seasons.
Lindelof is a quality defender and keeping him from Barcelona was a huge win for the side.
The Swede isn’t the finished article yet but he has the potential to become world-class in the coming years.
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