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Manchester United have decided to keep Victor Lindelof at the club for at least two more seasons, according to a new report.
Lindelof and old regular centre back partner Harry Maguire have found themselves on the sidelines more often than not since manager Erik ten Hag’s arrival last summer.
Ten Hag has preferred the Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez partnership, with Luke Shaw or Maguire often coming in ahead of Lindelof when either of the first string were injured.
This led to speculation that the Swede would be sold in the summer.
However, the 28 year old’s heroic performance alongside Shaw in the FA Cup semi final, when all three other centre backs were injured, coupled with Maguire’s poor recent performances, could have leapfrogged him ahead of the England man in the pecking order and The Daily Star says that the club is now ready to give him a lifeline.
“Manchester United have decided to take up an option to extend Victor Lindelof’s contract by a year,” the outlet reports.
“The Swede is approaching the final 12 months on his current deal and, to avoid selling him on the cheap this summer, the Reds instead plan to trigger the clause that keeps him at the club until June 2025.”
The Star does go on to suggest that the contract is being extended to protect Lindelof’s value and that the club would be willing to sell him if an offer came in that matched what they paid for him, which was £32 million.
As this is extremely unlikely, and with rumours of a Maguire exit coming thick and fast, it seems more likely that the younger man is winning the battle to stay at Old Trafford.
One big change in Erik ten Hag’s approach to that of previous managers José Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick is that he prefers at all costs to play with a left-footed player at left centre back.
Under the old regimes, the right-footed Maguire would play LCB with Lindelof at RCB.
Maguire has been deployed almost exclusively at RCB this season, with Lindelof playing on the left when there were no left footers available.
Ten Hag recently said that this was because “the angles are not good for Harry if he is playing on the left side, it’s difficult for him also defending in wide areas on his left foot but I think he is more capable on the right.”
“Victor is very good, he can use both feet and I think he also did a brilliant job in the rest of defence and the defensive transitions.”
The manager’s carefully chosen words also hint that the former Benfica man is more valuable to him as a defensive asset than Maguire.
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Courtesy : https://thepeoplesperson.com/2023/04/30/man-united-set-to-extend-victor-lindelofs-contract-by-one-year-263365/