Man Utd news: Why Victor Lindelof will come good for Jose Mourinho

VICTOR LINDELOF will come good at Manchester United, according to his former manager Rui Vitoria

Victor LindelofGETTY

Victor Lindelof will come good for Manchester United

Lindelof left the Portuguese giants to join Manchester United last summer in a £30.75m deal.

The centre back was expected to go on and establish himself at the heart of Jose Mourinho's defence.

But the Swedish international has endured a difficult start to life at United and struggled to make an impact.

Lindelof, 23, has made just five appearances and still finds himself behind Eric Bailly, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling in the pecking order.

Some United fans are starting to question the club's decision to spend so much on Lindelof.

But his former boss Vitoria is convinced Lindelof will go on to become a huge success and he said: "He is a very high quality player, he has been playing with Jose Mourinho.

"Of course when you move from the Portuguese championship to an English championship, so there is a phase, a stage of adaptation.

"But I do foresee that in the future Lindelof will be a player of Jose Mourinho's team. He has a lot of value, he is very cold, very competitive and has a great deal of quality.”

Lindelof is expected to play tonight against Benfica, having played in both of United’s previous two Champions League games.

And Mourinho recently insisted he was not worried by his progress.

Victor Lindelof and Maja Nilsson watch game at Old Trafford

"Victor will be given time and no pressure for his evolution," he said last month.

"He has a very specific position on the pitch and I was saying he needs time, he needs time and he will be given time but also opportunities.

"Because just time and no opportunities to play then the evolution gets slower.

"He needs time, no pressure, but also he needs opportunities. The fact that he played against Basel and then against Burton then in the future he's going to have more opportunities to play.

"He will prove step by step that he is ready to play."

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