Benfica boss Rui Victoria has claimed that it was his decision to leave out Victor Lindelof from the squad for their league cup match on Thursday night.
Victoria claimed that Lindelof is not in a state of mind to focus on his game amid the strong speculation of him joining Manchester United in January.
Rui Victoria said: ‘Leaving out Lindelof was my choice,’ said Vitoria after the match.
‘We have five high-quality centre-backs. Any of them can play and Jardel needed the minutes.’
According to recent reports, Lindelof has already agreed a €38million move to join The Red Devils and will become Mourinho’s first summer signing.
However, Portuguese media are also speculating that Lindelof may be close to signing a new deal with Benfica and is torn between leaving his current club or joining hands with Jose Mourinho at Manchester United.
