Victor Lindelöf | Officially signs

Hmmmm.. . Smalling is better in the air, but Jones is the better player. It'll be interesting to see whom Jose tosses aside.

I don't get the logic behind this signing, if I'm honest. All things considered, defence is the least of out problrems. I suppose this is a Muourinho signing like no other.

Come on you cant be serious?
 
Hmmmm.. . Smalling is better in the air, but Jones is the better player. It'll be interesting to see whom Jose tosses aside.

I don't get the logic behind this signing, if I'm honest. All things considered, defence is the least of out problrems. I suppose this is a Muourinho signing like no other.

We have too many average defenders. Bailly (and Rojo if he keeps his form up) is the only ones with the potential to be a world class CB. Smalling is the definition of average, and Jones is never fit. Blind isn't the type of CB that Mourinho likes, so it makes sense he's bolstering the defense.
 
Never ever seen him play or had heard of him till rumours started. I'll make an informed decision (personal opinion) once I've seen him play a few minutes.
This is an almost comically sensible and rational post, given the contrast between the other shite we see here :lol:
I'm with you though, I'm buzzing to see this guy play, his style sounds very easy on the eye/effective.
 

Picture translated:
"Shall we grab lunch today?"
"Honey......"
"Yes..."
"It's the Manchester derby. Game of the century."

Tweet translated:
"When your Saturday plans go to hell"


Kid will fit in here nicely.


Nice.

So I'm assuming his name will change to Victor England now?
 

Picture translated:
"Shall we grab lunch today?"
"Honey......"
"Yes..."
"It's the Manchester derby. Game of the century."

Tweet translated:
"When your Saturday plans go to hell"


Kid will fit in here nicely.

How many Victor's is she going out with to have to add to his contact details the country he is playing in! :lol:
 
Before signing them, I hadn't seen any of Blind, Rojo or Bailly play. I love all 3 now. I hope Lindelöf keeps the trend!
 
De Gea - 26
Bailly - 23
Lindelof - 22
Pogba - 24
Morata (assuming he comes) - 24
Rashford - 19

that's a core that's pretty young. and then there's:

Jones- 25
Lingard - 24
Martial - 21
Pereira - 21
Shaw - 21
Tuanzebe - 19
Mensah - 19
Gomes - 16

hell, some of our "experienced" players are relatively young too:

Herrera - 27
Mkhitaryan - 28
Rojo - 27
Smalling - 27

these guys must feel like fossils these days:

Carrick - 35
Valencia - 31

Don't dismiss Rooney he could still decide to stay
 
He couldn't hold his laugh in just like Zlatan couldn't before he was announced. It's LindelON. #bodylanguageexpertforrealz
A smile says a thousand words. Wooo :drool:
Awesome :drool:

Now let's get some attackers :D

How do we pronounce his surname?
Lín-dé-lurve (don't say the r).
He's 23 soon, a Sweden international and a regular for Benfica, he's not coming here to play for the U23s, he's coming to be a starter next season. I like the fact that we've gone for a ball playing defender, I do hope Mourinho doesn't try to remove that from his game (we did resort too often to the long ball against decent opposition last season and Mourinho even criticised the defenders for trying to pass it out and not punting it long enough when we played City).
I don't mind it in the big games and it will be good to have another player (Blind) who can ping the ball with accuracy from central defense. When we are the dominant team in home games he can bring the ball into attack and add an extra man in attack. He's Beckenbauer is what i'm saying :wenger:
Is he as batshit insane as Bailly?
He's the opposite, really. Should complement Bailly nicely.
 
Never heard of him before the links with us and never seen him play. Hope he is as good as Bailly and it'll be a fantastic base to build from.

100% behind Jose
 
Not sure if this posted. Official confirmation from Benfica, Fee is €35M + €10M in bonuses.

 
You notice that we are returning to our former best when the likes of Smalling and Jones return to the bench that they belong to.
 
Good on the ball, jury still out on the defending. Hope it works out, expensive.
It's not expensive, and from what I've heard, the jury is hardly out. Even if he's not top class yet, he's young enough to develop into a top player with Mou's guidance.
 
No Oxford comma in the thread title is mildly irritating.

:lol: pedantry of the highest level.

Not sure I'd use one here anyway, unless there is an 'and' between the last 2 words in the list.
 
It's not expensive, and from what I've heard, the jury is hardly out. Even if he's not top class yet, he's young enough to develop into a top player with Mou's guidance.

£30 million for a CB is expensive and Dortmund scored 4, Besiktas scored 3 and Napoli scored 4 against Benfica in single matches in the champions league this season with him playing CB. Benfica's record was 10 goals against in 6 matches.

So yes the jury is out, hopefully it works out for us.
 
Came here to say I watched the game against France the other day. He was an absolute rock, I was really impressed with him.

The only thing we haven't seen him do it play up against a quality PL side. He's going to struggle at first but he'll adapt fast.
 
Read this on Reddit from a benfica fan :

Considering the recent official announcement of an agreement with SL Benfica for the transfer of Victor Lindelof, I thought it would be interesting to provide my opinion on him, since I am also a Benfica fan, and have been following Lindelof's progress ever since he made it to the first team. Well, a conflicted Benfica fan at that right now. Anyway.

As the only times he plays in matches that are seen by a larger amount of people are in the Champions League, I thought it would be interesting to provide my opinion based on what I've seen from him in the Portuguese league.

Small player bio

  • Player name: Victor Lindelof

  • Age: 22 (23 on the 17th of July)

  • Height: 1.87m (6 ft 2 in)

  • Nationality: Swedish

  • Position(s): LCB, RCB, RB

  • Former clubs: Vasteras SK (SWE), SL Benfica (POR)

  • Trophies won:
    • 3rd Swedish division (with Vasteras)
    • 3 Portuguese league titles, 2 Portuguese Cups, 1 Portuguese League Cup, 1 Portuguese Super Cup (with Benfica)
    • Euro U21 (with the Swedish U21 National Team, where he was in the team of the tournament as the RB)
Summary of his time at Benfica

Lindelof joined Benfica in December of 2011. He played 1 season in Benfica's U19 team, and then 2 and a half seasons in Benfica's B team. At Benfica B (and also in the Swedish national team), he played as RB from time to time, but more consistently as a CB.

After a succession of injuries to Benfica's CBs in the 2015/2016 season, Lindelof began playing more and more often at the start of 2016, and quickly proved why he was so highly regarded while he was in Benfica's B team.

He played the second half of the 2015/2016 season as the RCB in a 4-4-2 formation, next to the more experienced LCB Jardel, a role that fit him extremely well, especially due to the fact that he is right-footed. Playing in his preferred side in the center of defense, he impressed Benfica fans not only with his defensive work, but also with his work on the ball. He would often carry the ball forward on his own, knowing he had the protection from LCB Jardel, and also DM Fejsa, in case of a rare mistake. His passing is solid, and he's comfortable with the ball under pressure.

Regarding his defensive work, Lindelof isn't exactly a hard tackling defender. Instead, he reads the opposition's attacks well and positions himself well accordingly, and doesn't have to tackle often because of it. Taking this into consideration, you could say Bailly compliments him well in that regard, making up for that with his own tackling abilities. That isn't to say Lindelof is a bad tackler. His tackles are good, but he just doesn't need to use them as frequently because of how he approaches his defensive duties. He's good at covering the left back (if he's playing at LCB) or the right back (if he's playing at RCB), which was extremely crucial with the way Benfica plays, with 2 extremely attacking full backs in both sides.

As for the past season, he played as the LCB in a 4-4-2 formation, next to RCB Benfica legend Luisão, and it certainly had an effect on his game. As a right-footed player in the left side of the center of defense, this season he has not started attacks like he used to as much as in 2015/2016, not feeling as comfortable to do on that side of defense. He did not improve a lot in this season, mostly keeping the same level as in 15/16, in which he showed a lot of talent and already became associated with bigger clubs.

For that reason, a decent amount of Benfica fans aren't exactly sad that he's leaving, since he did not improve a lot this season, not when compared to someone like RB Nelson Semedo. Personally, I'm on the other side of this argument, I think he should have still been played as the RCB, where he clearly felt more comfortable.

Strengths and weaknesses

  • Strengths: Reading the opposition's attacks, great at man marking, good with the ball at his feet and under pressure, decent header, good passing, does not get carded often because of the way he defends

  • Weaknesses: Not particularly fast (but not slow either), lack of concentration at times, physically not very strong
Conclusion

In the end, the Benfica fan in me is sad about losing a quality player like Lindelof in the heart of defense. However, the Manchester United fan in me thinks it is a great deal for the rumored price of €35 million (according to BBC's Simon Stone). Mourinho has an incredible track record with CBs, both in buying quality ones and improving ones already at the clubs he joins (Bailly and Rojo being two perfect examples for those 2 categories), and I have no doubt that he will turn Lindelof into an even better CB. Given the way he plays, I do think placing him as the RCB with Bailly as the LCB would make the most sense for him, considering how comfortable he is at starting attacks with the ball on the right side, and he could cover the right side extremely well when Valencia goes forward, but it might not be the best solution for Bailly. Regardless, I'll leave those questions to our man Mourinho!
 
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Welcome Victor. Not seen much of him but hopefully he will have a stellar career here. Btw, is he right footed or left footed ? I've seen videos where he makes long range passes with both.
 
Happy about this one. Haven't seen too much of him, but trust Mourinho with CBs and the age is perfect and price seems reasonable.
 
That's the thing, we don't quite know his caliber yet do we?

Lindelof coming in for £100k per week is the same wage as fecking rubbish Lingard. I think wage wise we have got a good deal in this current market.