Manchester United may not be signing Benfica defender Victor Lindelof after all this January, despite multiple claims from the Portuguese media over several days that a deal was all but confirmed. That's evenafter a potential deal looked as though it would survive a price hike.
According to BBC Sport, a formal bid hasn't actually been made and isn't now likely to be at all during the impending January transfer window.
It is said that United manager Jose Mourinho has been suitably convinced by the surprising form of Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo, as well as having Chris Smalling, Eric Bailly and Daley Blind at his disposal, that he doesn't need to splash the cash on a centre-back mid-season.
It was strongly rumoured that personal terms that would pay Lindelof £3m-per-year to 2022 and a £38m fee plus add-ons had been agreed in principle, while it was predicted he would inherit the number two shirt last worn at Old Trafford by Brazilian full-back Rafael.
There's no reason to believe that wasn't the case, especially after Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira travelled to England accompanied by agent Jorge Mendes for talks before Christmas.
But as so often happens with these kinds of transfers, where much of the talking is done in up front and in largely hypothetical terms, the actual formal offer from the buying club to the selling club is increasingly left until the very end.
Combined with the stories of Benfica wanting to raise Lindelof's release clause at the 11th hour, it seems as though United have seen fit to stop short of that final step when everything else appeared to be in place and have little intention of going any further for the time being.
Whether the club will reassess in summerand resurrect the deal, only time will tell.
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