English Club Rejected The Chance To Sign Victor Lindelof
Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
Birmingham City reportedly passed on the chance to sign new Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof three years ago.
There aren’t many players recruited by Manchester United that wouldn’t be deemed good enough by Birmingham City, but Victor Lindelof was one, according to their former manager Gary Rowett. The Old Trafford outfit secured the signing of Lindelof this summer for a significant sum of £31 million.
Gowett, who manages Derby County now, has revealed how he gave up the chance of signing the Red Devils’ defender at Birmingham. Gowett was apparently informed by his scouting staff that Lindelof wasn’t strong enough.
Talking to Sky Sports, Gowett claimed: “We had a few phone calls about him when I was manager of Birmingham City about three years ago.
“An agent called us and said Benfica were trying to get some of the younger players out to expose them to different levels. We had a look at him. It’s ironic actually. I put it to the staff and some of them felt he wasn’t quite tough enough.”
The Derby County manager also spoke of his disappointment on passing up the opportunity of signing the talented youngster.
“Then suddenly he’s being touted around at £20-30 million, so I think we made a mistake! He got straight back into the Benfica team very quickly and, of course, went from strength to strength.We had a look at him but the staff felt that he wasn’t strong enough,” he added.
Written by Shorya Panwar 
Has 20+ years of experience managing Schalke in Football Manager 2017. Believes wing-backs are the most complete footballers in the modern/evolved football. Writes weird stuff on his personal blog.