Man Utd Could Push Through £38m Signing This Week

Managers are now making moves to try and strengthen their squads during the January transfer window so we’ll bring you all the latest gossip from around the globe. Today, more on Man Utd’s pursuit of Victor Lindelof….

Manchester United could decide to bring forward plans to sign Victor Lindelof and wrap-up a £38m deal to land the Benfica defender this week, according to the Daily Star.

Lindelof has been strongly linked with a move to United this month but Jose Mourinho appeared to postpone pushing through a deal due to the impressive form of Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones in recent weeks.

Both Jones and Rojo have excelled in the middle of defence and played a key role in United’s recent upturn in form so it looked as though Mourinho’s plans to sign a new centre-back had been shelved until the summer.

The Daily Star claim that United had lined-up a £38m deal to sign Lindelof at the end of the season but are now considering bringing forward their plans to this month after Inter Milan entered the race for his signature.

The newspaper says that Jorge Mendes – who represents Mourinho – is now involved in negotiations along with Lindelof’s agent Fali Ramadani so you’d expect the United boss to use his connections to help smooth a deal in his favour.

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop but the Daily Star suggest that United chiefs will make a final decision over whether to sign Lindelof in January or in the summer by the end of this week.

The 22-year-old has developed in to one of the most promising young defenders in Europe over the past 18 months and he’s now a regular in the Swedish national team squad with 11 caps to his name so far.

United have the money to do the deal this month if they want, particularly following the recent sales of Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay, but if Lindelof does arrive before the close of the January window then it would cast fresh doubt over the future of Chris Smalling.

READ MORE –> Man Utd transfer news

The England international has started just two of United’s last 13 Premier League games with injury and form problems restricting his progress this season and he’s fallen down the pecking order following the signing of Eric Bailly last summer.

Lindelof’s arrival this month would see Smalling fall down to fifth choice so I wouldn’t be surprised to see the 27-year-old head for the Old Trafford exit door some time soon.