Towards the dying stage of the transfer window that summer, Daley Blind completed the switch to Manchester United.
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Daley Blind joined Manchester United in the summer of 2014 from Dutch club Ajax. For the left-back, it was all about the 2014 World Cup which changed his career. He played an important role under Louis van Gaal to reach the semi-final. After his starring role for the Netherlands, he was heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford. Add to it, van Gaal also became the United manager, making the move all the more possible.
Towards the dying stage of the transfer window that summer, Daley Blind completed the switch to Manchester United. “It began after the World Cup,” he told in the latest episode of the UTD Podcast. “After the World Cup 2014… this tournament changed my life. One summer before there was two clubs [interested in signing me]. I think Atletico Madrid was there. We had some conversations, but it was really in an early stage. It was not like I wanted to leave Ajax, because I was really happy there.”
“So my idea was really to stay there and for a long time. And then the World Cup came and then it started. I was just playing the World Cup and enjoying it. During the World Cup, of course, I played at high level and then came back here for the holidays and then the rumours start after Louis van Gaal signed at Manchester United. I think the rumours got so intense with me and United that we also asked ourselves, like, ‘Is there any truth in this or not?’”
The Dutch left-back also opened up about how the summer went for him on a personal level with his friends constantly questioning him whether he will move to Manchester United. “There were rumours from Manchester United. There were some rumours from Spain. There were some, yeah. [I was wondering] do I extend my contract? There were different things going on. Some days, you open the news and you get a message on your phone from your friends! ‘Hey, you go there?’ I say: ‘I don’t know!’,” he added.
“Of course, it’s strange if you get linked by all these clubs and of course a lot of reports. There’s things they have the right information, but I didn’t hear anything from them, and also not from Louis van Gaal. After a while, the rumours get so heavy, more and more, that my agent ask one time, like, ‘Is this true or not?’ Because then maybe we can have a talk or I focus on Ajax and we move on. Then I think three days before the window [ended], we get a call: ‘We are seriously interested, what do you want to do?’ Then I said, yes of course!”
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