Manchester United reject approach from La Liga giants for 28-year-old: Reports

Atletico Madrid's pursuit of Manchester United centre-back Victor Lindelof has been rejected by the English club.

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Ten Hag does not want to lose Lindelof and the Red Devils have turned down the Atletico Madrid approach for him as a result.

Here is Romano's tweet on how Manchester United turned down the offer:

Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez have found favor with Erik ten Hag as the preferred center-back partnership. England international Harry Maguire has been relegated to the bench as a result.

The arrival of Lisandro Martinez has meant that Lindelof has dropped down the pecking order.

But Lindelof is brilliant with the ball at his feet and excels at playing out from the back.

He could be an important backup for Martinez or Varane if either is unavailable.

Why does Manchester United want to keep Victor Lindelof?

United are competing on all four fronts as they stay in the hunt in all competitions. So Erik ten Hag needs as many resources as he can at his disposal.

Ten Hag's refusal to sell Lindelof despite the Swedish international having made just four Premier League starts so far this season is clearly an indication that United have no plans to weaken their defence.

According to reports, Atletico Madrid are looking at centre-back options as Wolves push for a move for their central defender Felipe.

The Spanish side have moved on from Lindelof and are now hopeful of bringing in Leicester City’s Caglar Soyuncu according to a report on metro.co.uk.

Manchester United play their city rivals in Saturday's derby (January 14th) and are in Europa League action next month against Barcelona in the knockout stages.

United are fourth in the Premier League table after 17 games and are tied with Newcastle, who are 3rd on points, with a game in hand.

United are also on a four-match winning run in the league.