Lindelof: I wanted to be a goalkeeper
Victor Lindelof has grown to become a talented defender, but it will surprise many to hear that the Manchester United man once had his heart set on playing in goal.
Speaking ahead of the Reds' Premier League trip to Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday, the 24-year old Swede explained how his aspirations of being a goalkeeper as a youngster came about after receiving a shirt with a United hero's name on the back.
"When I was younger, we had a market in my hometown in Sweden that sold different shirts there and my mother brought me a Barthez shirt, so that's why I wanted to be a goalkeeper," said Victor.
"I wanted to be a striker as well but, in that moment of my life, I wanted to be a goalkeeper."
Barthez arrived at Old Trafford in 2000 and went on to become a favourite of the fans during his four years at the club, helping the Reds to win two Premier League titles as well as keeping 30 clean sheets.
On the international scene, Fabien won the World Cup with France in 1998 and went on to keep 10 clean sheets across three major tournaments before retiring from football in 2007.
The Reds got the better of Brighton twice at Old Trafford last season, with victories against the Seagulls in the league and in the FA Cup, but were beaten on our first trip to the Amex Stadium back in May.
Victor acknowledged that United are in for another difficult away day on the south coast, but keen to continue our winning start to the new season, after beating Leicester City on opening night.
"It's a tough opponent," the centre-back said. "They are a very, very strong team. They work very hard for each other and they never give up, so it's going to be a difficult match, but we just have to keep going.
"We had a good few moments in the last game at home [against Leicester] and things we can continue to improve on and stuff like that, so we just have to keep working hard and prepare ourselves for the game and hopefully we can get the three points there as well."
"I'm here to help the team and I'm always trying my best, so hopefully I can just keep working hard and continue at the level I'm at right now."
United's opening game against Leicester saw Victor partner with Eric Bailly in central defence, as he made only his second outing for the Reds since returning to the fold following his World Cup exploits with Sweden.
"It was my second game of the season and I had a lot of practice before that, but yeah it went well," our no.2 reflected.
"Eric is a good defender and it was a pleasure to play with him and hopefully we can perform and play well in the future. I'm here to help the team and I'm always trying my best, so hopefully I can just keep working hard and be at this level that I am at the moment."
Brighton v United kicks off at 16:00 BST on Sunday and you can watch live build-up from the Amex Stadium from 14:00 BST on MUTV.