Manchester United centre-back Victor Lindelof admitted that he “needs minutes” after spending much of Ruben Amorim’s tenure on the sidelines as a summer exit looms large.
The 31-year-old is out of contract at Old Trafford in June and has endured a miserable final campaign with the Red Devils, with persistent injuries restricting his minutes. Even when the defender has been available, he’s struggled to make a significant impact on Amorim.
Lindelof has turned out just 14 times for United this term – only two of which have been Premier League starts – and outings with Sweden over the international break offered him increasingly rare game time.
The injury-prone central defender will almost certainly leave the Red Devils on a free transfer this summer but has cried for an increase in first-team football regardless.
“It’s been a while. It felt good. It’s nice to play 90 minutes. I need minutes,” Lindelof confessed to reporters after Sweden’s 5-1 win over Northern Ireland on Tuesday.
“We play with very high intensity in the national team, so it’s fun to hold for 90 minutes. It’s a tough and demanding way to play football. But we have to do that, too. It still felt like we solved it well, but it’s a little different sometimes to be so high up.”
Unfortunately for Lindelof, he has slumped down the pecking order with United in recent months. Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro, Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez are all above him in hierarchy, with young Ayden Heaven’s impressive recent performances doing Lindelof’s bid to earn more game time no favours.
Even Noussair Mazraoui has been utilised as a third centre-back in Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system ahead of Lindelof this season, with the United manager clearly not convinced by the Scandinavian.
Having arrived at Old Trafford in 2017, Lindelof has failed to live up to his potential following a £31m transfer from Benfica. The Portuguese giants have been linked with re-signing him when he becomes a free agent this summer.
