Gary Pallister sends message to Man United fans about Victor Lindelof signing

Gary Pallister has backed Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho’s decision to sign Victor Lindelof.

The Sweden international completed a £30.7m deal from Portuguese champions Benfica last month to finally sign the defender after being linked with Lindelof regularly over the past 12 months.

The 23-year-old will compete with Ivorian Eric Bailly, England duo Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, as well as Argentina international Marcos Rojo for a centre-half spot next term.

Manchester United had one of the best defensive records last season despite Mourinho contending with injuries to all four of his centre-halves throughout the campaign.

Lindelof has made a suspect start to his Manchester United career after a couple of high-profile mistakes against LA Galaxy and Real Madrid during the pre-season tour in California.

However, Manchester United legend Pallister has issued his backing for Lindelof given the history of fitness problems with Jones and Smalling.

“I’ve not seen an awful lot of Lindelof as I haven’t been getting up at 1am to watch the friendlies,” said Pallister, speaking exclusively to 888sport.

“But I’m hearing reports that he’s a top quality centre-half and you need strength and depth to any squad and there were question marks over Smalling and Jones last year and Jose felt he wanted another defender.

“It just makes the competition for places even harder for the English players in the side and the problem both Smalling and Jones have had throughout their careers is they have been blighted by injuries. That’s why Jose has gone out and bought.”

Manchester United finished in sixth place in the Premier League table in their first season under Mourinho.

The Red Devils did win the EFL Cup and the Europa League to finish the season on a positive note.

Read the full 888sport interview with Gary Pallister, including his thoughts on which club made the best signing of the transfer window