Daley Blind has returned to Ajax for a fee that could rise to around £18.5m; the Dutch defender has found his game time increasingly difficult to come by at Old Trafford since Jose Mourinho’s arrival and only made seven Premier League appearances last season, three of those as a substitute.
Blind’s versatility and link with Louis Van Gaal were crucial elements of Manchester United signing him in 2014, after an impressive World Cup with the Netherlands. The defender settled well to life in the Premier League, helping keep clean sheets in a third of his 90 games for the Red Devils.
However, due to the additions of Nemanja Matic and Victor Lindelof last season, Blind found himself on the periphery of the Manchester United first team and will no doubt return to his boyhood club in search of a familiar environment and regular game time.
