Victor Lindelof has revealed he has been playing in a size bigger boots after breaking his toe during a Nations League game against Slovenia last September.
The Sweden international was stamped on by an opposition player and broke his toe in the 1-1 draw at the Friends Arena but still carried on playing. Lindelof didn't miss any matches and instead wore one boot too big while taking painkillers to reduce the pain.
A week after injuring his toe, the 28-year-old came on in Manchester United's 6-3 defeat at Manchester City to play the final 50 minutes following Raphael Varane's latest setback. Lindelof started the 3-2 win at Omonia Nicosia three days later, before then playing in a 2-1 victory over Everton.
It didn't seem like Lindelof was carrying any injury whatsoever, but he has since revealed that he suffered the broken toe, which has been causing him ongoing problems. Following Sweden's 5-0 thrashing of Azerbaijan, Lindelof told the press that he could feel the toe "tightening".
"I broke my toe in September, and I felt it tightening out there," he said, as relayed by Aftonbladet. "It was with the national team in September. I got a stamp so I broke it. It hurt for a while, I had to take some painkillers. I could play, but only had a size bigger on the shoe."
Lindelof has struggled for game time at United this season, making just five Premier League starts. The defender has found himself as the fourth-choice centre-back behind Lisandro Martinez, Varane and Harry Maguire.
He was also snubbed by United boss Erik ten Hag earlier in the season when he started Luke Shaw at centre-back ahead of him against Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Manchester City.
With Lindelof's future firmly up in the air, he revealed last week that he will decide his fate at the end of the season amid interest from a host of European sides. "Of course like every player, you want to play every game and obviously I haven't done that this season," Lindelof said.
"But like I always say when I come here [international duty], it's a pleasure to be here and I'm always happy to represent my country.
"I'm really looking forward to the games that we have and I spoke to Janne [Sweden's manager] before to say I was really looking forward to coming here and to perform, and to be on the pitch with the guys again.
"Like I said, I want to play, that's why I play football, I want to play games, but I haven't thought about that [transfer away], right now I'm just focusing on the national team and then of course, the rest of the season with the club. Then in the summer we'll re-evaluate and see what is best."
Lindelof's United contract is set to run out in 2024 and he could be allowed to leave in the summer, with Jose Mourinho's Roma linked with a move for the Sweden international.
