Nilsson Lindelöf about the club choice and Saudi-Nobben: “There is no possibility” | The national team

Published 8 Oct 2025 at 13.31Updated at 13.43

Victor Nilsson Lindelöf went without a club during the summer.

The choice fell on Aston Villa – after several “no thanks” to others.

An alternative like Saudi Arabia was never relevant.

– My agent knows that there is no possibility that I would go to such a place, he says.

Victor Nilsson Lindelöf left Manchester United in the spring. It took a while before he landed in a new club address; Aston Villa.

Before the upcoming national matches, the national team veteran says that at first he did not want to know from any stakeholders from his agent but instead prioritize leave.

– Summer was very wonderful, I haven’t been free for so long … In my entire life I think. We got our third son at the beginning of the summer so it was nice to be home with him, and be home in Sweden and just enjoy. It was much needed for both the body and the head.

Was it an active decision that you did not want to sign for any club right away?

– The first month I told my agent not to call, but I wanted at least a month where I could turn everything off and think about what I wanted to do. The first month I did absolutely nothing and then we started to step it up a bit. I refused a lot during the summer but it was good in the end anyway.

One of the clubs it was most talked about was Fiorentina. Lindelöf confirms that he had contact with the goalkeeper and former teammate David De Gea.

– It’s a good friend of mine and we talked a lot during the summer. I had some interesting alternatives that I talked to the family and the agent with. Finally, I landed in the decision to come back to England.

“Not an option”

Clubs in Saudi Arabia, which were previously reported to show interest in Nilsson Lindelöf, were not an alternative, he explains.

– No, it wasn’t an option.

He says he does not know if there was a sharp offer from this time, but that it did not matter.

– I don’t really know (if there was an offer ed. Note), my agent knows that there is no possibility that I would go to such a place.

Is it a fundamental decision?

– In general, I do not feel that I am the kind of person who wants to go to such a country and play football. There are other places I would rather go and in terms of family, it does not feel good for the children. And I know that Maja, my wife, would definitely not want to move there. So it was pretty simple.

Now it ended with the family being able to stay in Manchester and the 31-year-old commutes instead to Birmingham.

– Obviously it was emotional for everyone to move. The kids and my wife would say goodbye to their friends, it was a little special. But now we are back, the kids go to the same school and they enjoy it very well there.