Lindelof bid rejected as agent puts defender’s future in Man Utd’s hands

Barcelona have had an approach for Victor Lindelof rejected – with the defender’s agent admitting his client’s future lies entirely in the hands of the Red Devils.

Mundo Deportivo reported recently that Barca were keen on Lindelof as an alternative to Matthijs de Ligt, who is poised to complete a switch to Serie A giants Juventus.

The report suggested Ernesto Valverde’s side were still keen to bring in a new centre-back this summer, with cover and competition sought after for Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet and amid doubts that Samuel Umtiti and Jean-Clair Todibo could be allowed to move on.

And on Tuesday, Mundo Deportivo again claimed that the Sweden international was very much on Barcelona’s radar, stating ‘in order to activate the operation, the Catalan club is waiting for the ‘Red Devils’ to agree to sit down and talk.’

Mundo Deportivo have now followed up on the link by claiming Barca’s approach for the 24-year-old has been rejected out of hand by United, though boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was keen to play down transfer links with a number of his senior players when questioned on Wednesday.

“There’s been loads of talks and speculation about many of our players, both ins and outs, but for me it’s business as usual,” said Solskjaer.

“When you’re at Manchester United you expect these things to pop up. I’ve spoken to Paul, Rom [Lukaku], Rashy [Marcus Rashford], Jesse [Lingard], spoken to most of them, more or less, because you keep in touch with them.

“We don’t have any bids for our players so, other than Paul [Pogba], most of our players have long contracts and were Manchester United, we don’t have to sell players.”

And while Lindelof’s agent has not said anything about Barca’s reported approach, he did suggest on Tuesday that any departure for the player would depend entirely on United.

“Lindelof is in the orbit of a great European club, but leaving United depends on the English club,” agent Hasan Cetinkaya said.

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