Ajax have told Manchester United they will not be able to sign Daley Blind on the cheap.
United’s lack of depth was easy to see as fringe players like Anderson, Danny Welbeck, Javier Hernandez and Shinji Kagawa all failed to impress manager Louis van Gaal in their dire 4-0 League Cup defeat by MK Dons on Tuesday.
Van Gaal made his fourth signing of the summer before the game in the shape of Angel di Maria, who cost a British transfer record fee of £59.7million (Dh362.8m), and more new arrivals are expected before Monday’s deadline.
Blind, a versatile Dutchman who can play left-back or in central midfield, is on Van Gaal’s transfer wish list, but Ajax will not let him go for less than full market value.
“We believe that we currently have a strong team and want Daley to stay for another year,” Ajax director of football Marc Overmars told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
“Only if the absolute top price is paid is a transfer negotiable.
“Daley’s management know how we feel at the moment.
“Next year we will have a much more lenient policy, we are willing to talk with Daley and we will settle for a reasonable price.”
Blind’s agent Rob Jansen claimed this week United were yet to launch a bid to sign the 24-year-old son of former Holland international Danny Blind.
And yesterday Overmars said there had still been no enquiry from United for the player.
“There’s some rumblings around Daley, some clubs enquired, but there is no concrete offer,” the former Arsenal winger said.
“And with Manchester United, there is no contact at all.”
