Lindelof backs Elanga to make his mark

Sweden have crunch World Cup play-offs coming up in a few months’ time. They are at home to Czech Republic on 24 March, with a chance to progress to a final against Russia or Poland, five days later. The prize at stake is a place in the finals in Qatar towards the end of the year.

Whether Elanga can gate-crash the squad probably depends on whether he is able to continue impressing for the Reds in the meantime.

“Maybe, in the future, we’ll see,” explained Lindelof about the situation. “We have quite a lot of young, exciting players coming up in Sweden at the moment. It’s a very, very positive thing obviously for me, being captain, as it’s always nice to see that – having young players getting into the team.

“To be honest, I don’t read that much [of any press coverage in Sweden about Elanga]. Obviously, if you’re at United and young and Swedish, of course there is a lot of talk about you as a player. Yeah, I think, like I said, he’s a top talent who, if he keeps doing the things he’s doing at the moment, he can have a bright future ahead of him. It’s nice to have him at the club as well and I’m trying to help him in any way I can.”