Victor Lindelöf

At 29 years old, Victor Lindelöf has this physical status:

Victor Jörgen Lindelöf (born 17 July 1994) is a Swedish professional footballer who competes for Manchester United and Sweden's national team as a defender.

Although mainly a centre-back, Lindelöf began his career in Sweden as a right-back, making his debut in September 2010.

He decided to move to Benfica, Portugal, in December 2011, having first represented the club at youth and B levels.

He made his debut on the team in September 2013, and he continued to play for the club at B level, as well as winning three Primeira Liga titles.

In July 2017, he joined Manchester United. Lindelöf has represented Sweden at the under-17, under-19, 21-, and senior levels.

He was a member of the Under-21 team that won the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championships.

He made his senior international debut in March 2016 and represented his country at UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Personal life

Lindelöf revealed his longtime partner Maja Nilsson following his move to Manchester United in 2017. They got married in Sweden at the end of May 2018. Their first child was born in March 2019.

Lindelöf caught the robbery of a 90-year-old woman by a man riding a bike in August 2020; Lindelöf pursued the thief on foot and held him until police arrived. Lindelöf was praised later by the police for his "quick and wise intervention."

Lindelöf's Manchester home was broken into by intruders while he was on the ground in January 2022, during their full 90 minutes against Brentford in a 3–1 win. His wife and two children were at home, but they were left homeless in another room.

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Club career

Lindelöf played for numerous Väster-based clubs in his youth, including IK Franke, Väster's IK, and Väster's Väster.

Lindelöf made his first-team debut for Väster's SK in October 2009 when the team defeated BK Forward 3–0 in the last round of the 2009 Division 1 Norra season. He was a step ahead of his team in the Swedish league system as they were promoted to the second highest league in the following season. He went to England in 2011 to see a trial with Stoke City, but there was no one around to refuse him.

Lindelöf agreed to join Portuguese club Benfica in the summer of 2012, and his deal was extended until 2020 on December 1st. He competed for the youth team and lifted the Portuguese under-19 championship in the 2012–13 season. He made his debut with the first team in a 1–0 Portuguese Cup victory over CD Cinfes on October 19, 2013 in a full match. He scored two goals in 33 games for the reserve team in the 2013-14 season.

He returned to the first team in the Taça da Liga from 2015-2016 in a 1–0 victory over Nacional. He completed Benfica's match against Zenit Saint Petersburg in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League's first leg on February 16, 2016. In a 3–1 Primeira Liga victory over Paços de Ferreira, he scored his first goal for Benfica. He participated in the Taça de Portugal final on May 28, 2017, beating Vitória de Guimares (2–1) by the end of the season. He had won three Primeira Liga titles, two Taça de Portugal titles, and one Taça da Liga title by the time he was leaving Benfica.

Manchester United announced on June 10th that they had reached a £35 million (with a potential €10 million in add-ons) with Benfica, pending the signing of personal terms and the player's passing of a medical. Lindelöf completed his medical at the Trafford Training Centre on June 14th, with the Swede signing a four-year deal with the option of an additional year; Manchester United announced that the deal would begin on July 1.

He made his official debut for the club against Real Madrid in the 2017 UEFA Super Cup, but it was more than two months before his Premier League debut against Liverpool on October 14th. Due to Jose Mourinho's decision of playing a defensive partnership with Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, he was limited to 17 premier league games, starting 13 of them.

Lindelöf became Mourinho's favorite center-back in the 2018-19 season, and he was playing more often than he did in the previous season. In the first match of the season against Leicester City on August 11, 2019, he played the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 home win. Jose Mourinho was fired in December 2018 and replaced with Ole Gunnar Solskjr, who went on to start in 11 out of 13 league matches before Jose Mourinho was suspended in December 2018 and replaced with Ole Gunnar Solskjr. Lindelöf scored his first goal for Manchester United on January 29, 2019, scoring their second goal in a 2–2 league draw at home against Burnley.

Lindelöf renewed his deal until 2024 in September 2019, with the option of a further year. In a league match against Aston Villa that ended in a 2–2 draw on December 1, he played 90 minutes and scored his first goal of the season on Sunday. He played 35 appearances and scored one goal in the league during the season, his third most in league appearances during the season, behind Harry Maguire and David de Gea, who both played all 38 games and forming a defensive alliance with Maguire.

Lindelöf scored his first goal of the 2020-2021 season on December 20, 2020, beating Leeds United 6–2 home. In Manchester United's historic 9–0 home win over Southampton on February 2nd, he played the full 90 minutes. Manchester United lost in the 2021 UEFA Europa League Final to Villarreal after a 10–11 penalty shoot-out in which Lindelöf scored United's 10th penalty kick in 2021. He played the full 120 minutes on May 26, 2021.

International career

Lindelöf made his international debut for the under-21 team on October 14, 2014, during the second leg of the qualification play-offs against France.

Despite Lindelöf's inclusion in the final squad for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, he recalls defender Emil Krafth, who was forced to leave the tournament due to a back injury. In the first game against Italy, he made his debut in the tournament. He converted Sweden's fifth and last penalty against Portugal on June 30, 2015, defeating Portugal 4–3 penalty shoot-out in the final, making him the European under-21 champion. He was selected to compete in the Tournament's squad.

Lindelöf was given his first call up to the senior Sweden squad in March 2016 for friendlies against Turkey and the Czech Republic. In a 2–1 away loss to Turkey on March 24, 2016, he made his country debut.

He was selected in Sweden's squad for UEFA Euro 2016 in France, where he played in all three of their group tournaments, but Sweden did not progress to the round of 16. Lindelöf was also selected in Sweden's 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but he was refused entry into the tournament by his club Benfica, who felt that their players' participation in the Olympics would jeopardize their chances for the following season.

In a 3–0 victory over Bulgaria in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier at Friends Arena in Stockholm, Lindelöf scored his first international goal for Sweden.

He was selected in Sweden's 23-man squad for the FIFA World Cup in Russia in May 2018. Lindelöf missed the first game against South Korea due to sickness, but he was a regular starter in defense alongside Andreas Granqvist for the remainder of the tournament. In the quarter final against England, Lindelöf and Sweden were disqualified.

Lindelöf was called up to Sweden's UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying matches against Romania and Norway in March 2019. However, he opted to withdraw from the squad due to personal reasons, namely the birth of his first child. Anton Tinnerholm had him replaced.

He played for Sweden at UEFA Euro 2020 and was involved in all four games until being eliminated by Ukraine.

Following Granqvist's retirement after Euro 2020, Lindelöf was named as captain by Sweden coach Janne Andersson on August 11, 2021.

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