Manchester United have been told that one of their former players would be their “best defender now” if he didn’t leave on a free transfer.

32-year-old Lindelof spent eight years at Man Utd between 2017 and 2025, making 284 appearances in all competitions.

However, the experienced centre-back was impacted by injuries in his last two seasons at Old Trafford, and he was let go on a free transfer at the end of the 2024/25 campaign.

After a couple of months as a free agent, Lindelof joined Aston Villa on a free transfer and has massively surpassed expectations since the start of last season.

“Would be Manchester United’s best defender right now…”

Lindelof has been one of Aston Villa’s better performers this season, and ex-Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor reckons Man Utd will be rueing letting him leave.

“There is one defender who Aston Villa have got who would be Manchester United’s best defender right now, and that is Victor Lindelof. He has been a revelation,” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT.

“He’s been a great pro as well, last season, he wasn’t getting as many starts because Ezri Konsa was there.

“But he was fantastic, and I think Taylor Harwood-Bellis has got a long way to get Lindelof out of the side.

“He would be Manchester United’s best defender now.”

The centre-back area is one of Man Utd’s many issues as they have only won two of their first ten matches in all competitions this season.

Despite this, ex-United player Gordon Strachan has backed head coach Michael Carrick.

“No, I don’t think Michael Carrick is on thin ice,” Strachan told Boyle Sports.

“Once new signings settle in, things will stabilize. However, looking at teams like Brentford, Brighton, or Leeds, their energy levels exceeded what Manchester United were putting out and that is concerning.”

He added: When you watch Manchester United, they seem to play in spells and seem to require breaks during matches to recover from high-intensity work which has to be fixed.

“There is also a squad transition taking place after previous tactical setups, particularly in how attacking players like Cunha and Mbeumo are integrated.

“Finding the right tactical balance, but finding a way to sort the overall team energy is the main challenge they face right now.”