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Jose Mourinho: Victor Lindelof needs time to adapt at Manchester United



Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has explained that he will give Victor Lindelof time to adapt to English football following the defender's summer move from Benfica.

The boss has explained how Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic are already well versed in the Premier League and that is why they were able to make instant impacts in the 4-0 win over West Ham United.

As for Lindelof, he will be given time to settle at Old Trafford with Phil Jones and Eric Bailly starting at the back against the Hammers.

"I think Real Madrid [in the UEFA Super Cup] was too early for him," said Mourinho. "He played because Jones and Bailly were both suspended.

"I've had players coming from different leagues to the Premier League and, normally, it's not easy. It's different for Lukaku and Matic as they have had years and years in the Premier League.

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

"I think Victor needs a little bit of time and he is going to have that time. Henrikh Mkhitaryan is not a defender but, last season, he needed his time too. So let's go step by step because Victor is a fantastic player."

Manchester United bossMourinho is convinced Manchester United will be stronger this season but is not getting too carried away.



"Many times last season we deserved to win and we didn't, so the fact we won the match was the most important thing," added the Portuguese, who will be desperate to improve on last season's sixth place in the top flight.

"I think the quality of our performance, based on the confidence levels, was really high but I am not going to say the performance was perfect because it wasn't perfect. We made our mistakes and have room for improvement, obviously.

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