Daley Blind admits Man Utd transfer temptation after Ajax exit

Daley Blind admitted he was tempted to call Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag over a January move.

Blind left Ajax at the turn of the year, after both the club and player agreed to terminate the contract. Indeed, the 33-year-old became a free agent ahead of the January window and eventually joined Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.

However, the defender, who played several seasons under Ten Hag at Ajax admitted he had been tempted to offer his services to the Dutchman in January.

Yet Blind, who also spent four years at Old Trafford between 2014 and 2018, admitted he was probably not what United needed at the time time.

Blind’s Old Trafford return?

Speaking to the MAN UTD podcast, Blind claimed he had been tempted to offer his services to his former employers last season.

After admitting he had considered an Old Trafford return, the Dutchman said: "No [I didn't call Ten Hag]. To be honest, he has the same agent as me, so the connection is not that far away.

"But yeah, he did not really need me at that moment. He [had] already bought some players in.

“[Lisandro] Martinez as well, in the same position, and I am not blaming him for that. I am very thankful for the time [I had] with him. I learned a lot from him."

Lisandro Martinez followed Ten Hag from Ajax to United but faced criticism in his first few months at Old Trafford. The Argentina international’s height in particular was brought into question after poor performances against Brighton and Brentford at the beginning of last term.

Yet Blind praised his former team-mate for ultimately adapting to the demands of the Premier League.

Blind said: "I think, at the moment I started playing centre back, there were some critical notes about my height or my, how you say it, I don’t look like [Nemanja] Vidic for example.

"I think, in England, there is like this image of a centre-back and that is how it should be done and how a player in the centre should look like, the way he is, and I think, nowadays, you can fill it in different ways.

"Martinez, he is a great centre-back. He is so aggressive, he’s really good with his feet. He’s really good at tackling. You cannot write him off just because he’s maybe not the height you expect him to be. But I think he showed himself directly that he is capable of everything in the Premier League."

Topics: Football, Manchester United, Transfers, Daley Blind, Premier League

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.