Victor Lindelof appears to be on his way out of Manchester United after his chance to impress Ruben Amorim was hampered by injury.
Lindelof has been an outsider at United this season, having struggled with injuries under both Erik ten Hag and Amorim. But he was given a rare opportunity to catch Amorim's attention when he started in the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Tottenham on Thursday evening.
Things didn't go to plan for Lindelof or United, with the Sweden international having to leave with an injury at half-time before his team succumbed to a 4-3 defeat. That was just his fourth start of the season – all in the Carabao Cup or Europa League, with five substitute appearances in the Premier League.
Lindelof looked dejected as he trudged off the pitch with the physio and was replaced by Jonny Evans. The 30-year-old is out of contract with United in June and is running out of time to secure a new deal.
“I think he has something that we have to assess to say specifically what he has, but it is difficult to lose a player,” Amorim told MUTV when asked about Lindelof's injury. “They are working very hard, they want to get back, but like I said, the same goes for Luke Shaw, Mason Mount and Vic, they had injuries, they have no space to train.
“Just preparing games is not perfect, so we will try to do it again to have the full squad because with this schedule we need the full squad.”
Lindelof joined United from Benfica in 2017 for £31 million and has made 268 appearances in all competitions. That makes him one of the longest-serving players at the club and he is considered a senior figure in the dressing room.
But the club are unlikely to keep him on the books with Sir Jim Ratcliffe overseeing an overhaul of the underperforming squad. Lindelof is in a group of players without a contract along with Evans, Harry Maguire, Tom Heaton and Christian Eriksen, while Amorim has already confirmed that the club wants to extend Amad Diallo's contract.
United extended Lindelof's contract by a year in December 2023 to ensure they did not lose him in vain this summer. However, his agent is likely to be busy in the new year when he can discuss a summer free transfer with foreign clubs.
Ratcliffe has been very open about his desire for a fresh slate and is prepared to take a ruthless approach to the dead weight in the squad. Defense will be an area of high turnover in the coming months, with Lindelof, Maguire and Evans all potentially leaving.
Amorim have Lisandro Martinez, Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro in central defense, but will want new faces when the aforementioned trio leave next summer.
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