Manchester United new signing Victor Lindelof needs time, insists Jose Mourinho

Manchester, August 15: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has stated that new signing Victor Lindelof needs time to adjust to the Premier League after he left out the £31 million signing from the matchday squad on the opening day win against West Ham United.

Lindelof who was signed from Benfica this summer watched the game from the stands as United started their season with a thumping 4-0 win over West Ham at Old Trafford.

Following an uneasy pre-season and starting the UEFA Super Cup defeat to Real Madrid last week, Lindelof was overlooked to make the bench for United's first match as manager Mourinho went with Phil Jones and Eric Bailly as his first choice centre-backs with Chris Smalling named on the bench.

However, after the match, the United manager explained about the decision of omitting the player insisting Lindelof is not yet ready for Premier League and compared him to Mkhitaryan and Ricardo Carvalho during their start to the premier league careers.

"I think Real Madrid was too early for him," he told a news conference.

"He played because Jones and Bailly were both suspended. I had players coming from different leagues to the Premier League and normally it is not easy. The difference with Lukaku and Matic is that they have years of experience of the Premier League."

"I brought in 2004 a phenomenal central defender to England, Ricardo Carvalho. He was one of the best central defenders in the last decade of the Premier League, but he struggled. It was difficult for him to adapt in the beginning."

"I think Victor needs time, a little bit of time. He's going to have that time. [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan is not a defender and last season he needed this time. So step by step because Victor is a fantastic player."

Manchester United's opening day was extremely good for the other two new signings as attacker Romelu Lukaku scored two goals and defensive midfielder Nemanja Matic produced a Man of the Match performance.

Manchester United will travel to Swansea next week and will hope to carry the winning form they picked up at home to the away game in Wales.