Victor Lindelof
Swedish Footballer
Victor Lindelof is a Swedish footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Manchester United.
Victor Lindelof
• Date of birth: 17 July 1994
• Age: 28 years old
• Place of birth: Vasteras, Sweden
• Nationality: Swedish
• Position: Central defender
• Wife: Maja Nilsson Lindelof
• Height: 187cm / 6ft 2ins
• Weight: 80kg / 176lbs
• Wages: £120,000 per week (reported)
• Instagram: @victorlindelof
• Twitter: @vlindelof
Lindelof started his professional career at Swedish club Vasteras SK in 2009 following a stint in the youth team.
Victor completed a move to Portuguese side Benfica in 2011 and blossomed into one of Europe’s most promising centre-halves. The Swedish defender won three Portuguese titles and three Portuguese Cups during six seasons at Benfica.
Lindelof then completed a £30m move to Manchester United from Benfica in the 2017 summer transfer window, while Jose Mourinho was in charge at Old Trafford.
He made his senior debut for the Sweden national team in a 2-1 loss to Turkey on 24 March 2016 and has been a regular fixture in the side since then.
Vasteras SK
Lindelof played for numerous Vasteras-based clubs in his youth, such as IK Franke, Vasteras IK and Vasteras SK.
The Swedish defender made his debut for Vasteras SK at the age of 15 in October 2009, when he helped them ease to a 3-0 win over BK Forward.
(Photo: @victorlindelof / Instagram)
Victor was part of the Vasteras SK side that secured promotion to the Superettan for the 2010-11 campaign. He made 41 appearances during three seasons with Vasteras SK but didn’t win any silverware.
Benfica
Benfica signed Lindelof from Vasteras SK on 1 December 2011.
Victor started with Benfica’s youth team following his move to Portuguese football. Lindelof made 15 appearances as Benfica won the Under-19 championship.
The Swedish centre-half scored two goals in 33 games in the 2013-14 season.
Victor made his first-team debut in a 1–0 Portuguese Cup win against CD Cinfaes on 19 October 2013.
He made his league debut in a 2-1 loss to bitter rivals FC Porto in the Portuguese top flight.
(Photo: @victorlindelof / Instagram)
Lindelof opened his account for Benfica in a 3-1 win over Ferreira on 20 February 2016. He then started his first Champions League game in a 2-1 win over Russian side Zenit St Petersburg in round of 16.
Victor started both legs of their 3-2 loss to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.
He finished the 2015-16 with one goal in 15 league appearances, as well as four starts in the Champions League.
Victor signed a five-year contract extension with Benfica on 20 June 2015.
Lindelof started his first game of the season in a 2-0 win over Tondela on 13 August 2016.
Victor started their Champions League games against Besiktas, Napoli and Dyname Kyiv to get more first-team football under his belt.
Lindelof completed 180 minutes of Benfica’s 4-1 loss to Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League round of 16.
He scored his only goal of the season in a 1-1 draw with Sporting Lisbon on 22 April 2017.
Victor started Benfica’s 2-1 win over Vitoria de Guimaraes in the Taca de Portugal final on 28 May 2017.
Lindelof scored two goals in 73 games in all competitions.
Manchester United
Manchester United signed Lindelof in a £30m deal from Benfica on 10 June 2017. Victor put pen to paper on a long-term deal with the club, who were being managed by Jose Mourinho at the time.
(Photo: @victorlindelof / Instagram)
At the time, his compatriot Zlatan Ibrahimovic gave the defender a ringing endorsement: “I think Victor is doing great things, he is playing good for Benfica, he gets a lot of responsibility for the national team now, he is growing. Is he good enough for United? I think he’s good enough for the big clubs out there. It’s up to him what he wants and what the situation says.”
Lindelof made his debut in Manchester United’s 2-1 loss to Champions League holders Real Madrid in the Uefa Super Cup on 8 August 2017.
Lindelof started all three of their opening three Champions League group stage victories over FC Basel, CSKA Moscow and Benfica.
Victor started their 4-1 win against Burton Albion in the League Cup third round.
He made his Premier League debut for Manchester United as a 90th minute substitute in a 0-0 draw with their bitter rivals Liverpool on 14 October 2017.
His first Premier League start didn’t come until a 4-1 victory over Newcastle United at Old Trafford on 18 November.
The Swedish defender started Manchester United’s four consecutive victories over Brighton, Arsenal, Watford and CSKA Moscow.
He was dropped to the bench for Manchester United’s 2-1 loss to derby rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford.
Lindelof made his full FA Cup debut in a 2-0 win over Championship side Derby County in the third round on 5 January.
He started Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Sevilla in the Champions League round of 16 before the Swede was omitted from their 2-1 loss to the Spanish side in the return leg.
However, Victor was an unused substitute in Manchester United’s victories over Brighton and Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup quarter-finals and semi-finals.
He didn’t feature in Manchester United’s 1-0 loss to Chelsea FC in the FA Cup final at Wembley.
Lindelof made 30 appearances in the Premier League, League Cup, FA Cup, Champions League and Super Cup in his debut season at Manchester United.
International Career
Victor was a regular in the Swedish youth level set-up.
Although he was initially left out of Sweden’s Under-21 squad for the 2015 Under-21 European championship, Lindelof was called up to replace an injured player ahead of the tournament. His first appearance came against Italy in the tournament’s opener.
(Photo: @victorlindelof / Instagram)
Lindelof scored the fifth and decisive penalty in Sweden’s penalty shootout victory over Portugal to win the Under-21 European championship trophy, and was named in the team of the tournament.
The defender made his senior debut for Sweden in a 2-1 loss to Turkey in March 2016.
Victor started all three of Sweden’s group games at Euro 2016 as his national team failed to get past the first round.
Lindelof scored his first international goal for Sweden in a 3–0 win over Bulgaria in a 2018 World Cup qualifier at the Friends Arena in Stockholm on 10 October 2016.
Victor was included in Sweden’s squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He was an unused substitute in their 1-0 win over South Korea in their group stage opener.
However, Victor was part of the Sweden team that lost 2-1 to Germany before their 3-0 win over Mexico secured their place in the round of 16.
(Photo: @victorlindelof / Instagram)
Lindelof was named in the starting XI for Sweden’s 1-0 win against Switzerland before England were 2-0 winners in the quarter-finals.
Personal Life
Lindelof married his wife, Maja Nilsson, in May 2018, after having become engaged to her shortly after his transfer to Manchester United the year before. The couple have one child together.
Victor Lindelof and his wife Maja Nilsson, pictured in 2021 (Photo: @victorlindelof / Instagram)
Victor Lindelof – Did You Know?
• Lindelof made 73 Benfica appearances and was booked just six times and was never sent off during his spell in Portugal.
• Victor won five major trophies during his five seasons at Benfica.
• It took Lindelof more than seven seasons to rack up 100 first-team appearances despite making his professional debut at the age of 16.
• In 2011, Stoke City reportedly turned down the chance to sign Lindelof after he had a trial at the English club.
