Man Utd Outcast Hints at Interest in Rejoining Ajax But Reports Disagree Over Possible Pay Cut
Manchester United defender Daley Blind has hinted that he would be interested in sealing a transfer to former club Ajax this summer after falling terribly out of favour at Old Trafford, although it has been reported that he would need to accept a pay cut for it to happen.
Blind began the 2017/18 as manager Jose Mourinho's first choice left-back. But the Dutchman didn't start a single Premier League game between the end of August and the beginning of May and was often not included in match day selections at all, even when fit.
Michael Regan/GettyImages
Rumours of a possible return to Ajax, who sold Blind to United for £13.8m shortly after the 2014 World Cup, surfaced this week.
Responding to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, the 28-year-old, who is currently enjoying a summer holiday, said, "I cannot say much about it, but everyone knows what I think about Ajax."
The publication explains that former United goalkeeper and current Ajax director Edwin van der Sar has been put forward to try and negotiate a deal, while it said that the Amsterdam club are prepared to pay what is termed an 'English salary'.
That suggests Blind may not have to take a pay cut from current Old Trafford wages in order to secure a move back home to the much less wealthy world of the Eredivisie.
Interestingly, the Dutch version of events differs from what is reported by the Daily Telegraph in England, which claims that Blind would have to take a pay cut to rejoin Ajax.
The British newspaper claims that the only way Ajax could match Blind's £120,000 weekly wages was in the event that United waived a transfer fee. The report suggests that Ajax simply cannot afford to pay a transfer fee and still offer a similarly lucrative contract.
One final point of interest from De Telegraaf is that United would apparently prefer to sell Blind more expensively to a club in Germany, Italy or Spain. That suggests Ajax may well only be coming forward with a very small offer to help them maximise what they could pay the player.
