Jose Mourinho has reiterated that Victor Lindelof will need more time to settle in at Manchester United after struggling to adapt to his new club over the summer.
The Swede became Mourinho’s first signing of the summer back in June, arriving for a fee of £31m from Benfica, but struggled for composure over pre-season and picked up criticism for a shaky display during United’s UEFA Super Cup defeat to Real Madrid earlier this month.
He has not seen a minute of Premier League action so far and didn’t even make the match-day squad for wins over West Ham United and Leicester City as Mourinho, in similar fashion to how he has treated Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw in the past (to storming effect), looks to ease the 23-year-old in to life at Old Trafford by forcing him to watch from the sidelines, imbibing the furious culture of the Premier League before meeting it face to face.
Speaking soon after United’s 2-0 win over Leicester, the 54-year-old made it clear that, with United opening their League Cup and Champions League campaign next month, Lindelof’s chance will come.
“Eric is playing really well,” he said. “I have to say Smalling is in very good conditions and I have also to say Victor is improving every day.”
“So, as you know, against Basel Jones and Eric are both suspended, so against Basel we will play Victor and Smalling and no problem at all. The squad is good and the mentality of the players is very good too.”
“I think Real Madrid was too early for him. He played because Jones and Bailly were both suspended. I have players coming from different leagues to the Premier League and normally it’s not easy. The difference between Lukaku and Matic is exactly that, they have years and years of the Premier League.”
“I brought in 2004 a phenomenal central defender to England in [Ricardo] Carvalho, he was one of the best central defenders in the last decade of the Premier League, but he struggled, it was difficult for him to come and adapt to the beginning and I think Victor needs a little bit of time and he’s going to have that time.
“Mkhitaryan is not a defender and last season he needed his time, so let’s go step by step, because Victor is a fantastic player.”
