When Daley Blind moved to Manchester United in the summer transfer window of 2014, it was termed as a good buy as for €18 million, Blind was a bargain. The utility player, who can play in defence or midfield, was brought to Old Trafford following an impressive campaign with Netherlands at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Ajax's Sporting Director, Marc Overmars has now revealed that the whole deal for Blind was made via email rather than the traditional face-to-face negotiations. Overmars, while speaking to De Telegraaf, told that United were happy to meet Ajax's asking price for Blind and that all interactions between the clubs took place only via email.
“In the past, a transfer like Daley Blind’s to Manchester United was precluded by lengthy negotiations. We did not even sit down around the table now. The entire transfer was done by email.
“When Manchester United agreed to meet our asking price, I asked our financial director and legal department to deal with the paperwork and that was it. That just goes to show big clubs like Manchester United do not get overly worried about such big transfer fees,” Overmars said.
For a club like Man United to pay €18 million will not have been a great amount of money, especially having had their worst Premier League finish in 2013/14 when they ended the season in the seventh spot.
David Moyes, who was the Man United manager at the time, was sacked, with then Netherlands manager, Louis van Gaal set to take over at Old Trafford. The club, which was trying to rebuild itself from the time Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 would have been more than happy to pay the aforementioned amount of money for a player of Blind's quality.
Blind, who had featured in Man United's 4-0 win over Feyenoord, played his 100th match for the club in all competitions. In all his appearances for the Red Devils, the 26-year-old has scored 4 goals. The Dutchman has the ability in multiple positions and this has made a vital part of Man United's squad recently.
Blind, who had played more as a midfielder for Ajax has not featured in that position of late. Under van Gaal's reign at Old Trafford, Blind had featured as a deep lying midfielder for a number of matches. However, in the last two seasons, he has been used across the back line.
With injuries to Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling, Jose Mourinho has to shuffle between the three of Blind, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo. Man United will host a struggling West Ham United side and will be looking to keep the momentum from midweek going.
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