Premier League 2017/18: 5 summer signings who haven't lived up to expectations

#3 Victor Lindelof

Victor Lindelof has spent most of his time on Manchester United's bench thus far

Jose Mourinho seemed to struggle with choosing a partnership in central defence last season at Manchester United – his new signing Eric Bailly was clearly a first choice player, but then Mourinho tried out practically every other centre-half he had alongside him.

From Chris Smalling to Marcos Rojo to Phil Jones, nothing seemed to fit quite right for the Portuguese boss. So when he spent a huge £30m on Swedish international Victor Lindelof, it was expected that he’d play alongside Bailly in Mourinho’s new starting lineup.

That hasn’t been the case at all, though. After making some blunders during pre-season games, particularly in the European Super Cup defeat to Real Madrid, Lindelof was dropped from United’s squad for the first Premier League game of the season. Jones was given the nod to partner Bailly and hasn’t looked back since, looking like arguably the best defender in the league and having Mourinho singing his praises for good measure.

And Lindelof? He still hasn’t made a Premier League appearance, although he has appeared in Europe and the League Cup a couple of times.

Can he break into the first team? Mourinho initially claimed he just needed time to settle in, similar to last season’s new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who took time to come to form, but with the form of Jones and Bailly ahead of him – and Mourinho being a boss well-known for keeping a consistent first team rather than constant tinkering – he may find it very hard to break into the side for a long period of time.

With his confidence already low following that shaky pre-season, his time at United could well end up a shorter one than most fans first expected.

Don’t be surprised if Mourinho calls time on the Swede next summer.