Victor Lindelof focused on Benfica amid reports of imminent Manchester United move

Victor Lindelof is a name that transfer enthusiasts the continent over should be very familiar with by now. Having been persistently linked with a move to Manchester United last summer and once again during the January transfer window, the highly-rated Swedish defender continues to be touted for an imminent switch to Old Trafford after helping Benfica claim an 11th domestic double.

Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira is said to have travelled to Manchester this week in order to speed up negotiations regarding the potential departures of Lindelof and teammate Nelson Semedo. Portuguese publication Record subsequently reported that the former had agreed a long-term deal and would move for an initial £30m ($38.6m) fee that could rise to £35m depending on performance-related bonuses.

Relatively little has been heard from Lindelof during the course of such a protracted saga, although he has insisted to VLT that he remains fully focused on Benfica despite that latest batch of typically intense speculation.

"There are rumours that there is always, at all times," he said, as per the Manchester Evening News. "I will say the same thing I always do, I have a contract with Benfica. I have played there for five years and really enjoy myself.

"I'm still young and I feel I'm developing all of the time, football down there gives me a lot. So my answer will always be that I get on very well at Benfica and that's where my focus is."

A 2012 signing from Swedish minnows Vasteras SK, Lindelof has gone onto make 72 senior appearances for Benfica since being handed his first-team debut in 2013. The 22-year-old, who has also earned 11 senior international caps for Sweden, featured 47 times across all competitions last term as Rui Vitoria's side clinched a club-record fourth consecutive Primeira Liga title - their 36th overall - and beat Vitoria Guimaraes 2-1 in the Portuguese Cup final.

Jose Mourinho is believed to be targeting the addition of a new centre-back this summer, with a potential return to United for Burnley standout Michael Keane most heavily mooted. The club are now said to have cooled their pursuit of Atletico Madrid talisman Antoine Griezmann, who looks set to be offered a bumper new contract in the Spanish capital after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) upheld Los Colchoneros' transfer ban.

Romelu Lukaku, Alvaro Morata, Andrea Belotti and Kylian Mbappe are among the plethora of other players linked with the Red Devils as doubts persist over the future of injured and soon-to-be out-of-contract frontman Zlatan Ibrahimovic.