Daley Blind admits he was tempted to call Erik ten Hag and offer a return to Manchester United after leaving Ajax in December.
Blind left the Dutch side for the second time of his career at the end of last year, with both club and player mutually agreeing to terminate his contract. The 33-year-old became a free agent ahead of the January window, eventually joining Bayern Munich.
The defender spent several seasons under Ten Hag at Ajax before the manager left for Old Trafford last year. And he was tempted to offer his services in January, but admitted he was probably not what United needed at the time.
"No [I didn't call him]," Blind the UTD podcast after admitting he was tempted. "To be honest, he has the same agent as me, so the connection is not that far away.
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"But yeah, he did not really need me at that moment. He [had] already bought some players in. [Lisandro] Martinez as well, in the same position, and I am not blaming him for that. I am very thankful for the time [I had] with him. I learned a lot from him."
Martinez did follow Ten Hag from Ajax to United, and the Argentinian has proven doubters wrong by becoming one of the Premier League's top defenders. He was the subject of unfair criticism after poor defeats against Brighton and Brentford at the start of the season, with the latter in particular seeing his height pointed out as a problem.
It's something felt by Blind, who has also come under the spotlight for a perceived lack of physicality. But the Dutchman has praised Martinez for adapting to the league's physical demands.
"I think, at the moment I started playing centre back, there were some critical notes about my height or my, how you say it, I don’t look like [Nemanja] Vidic for example!" he said.
"I think, in England, there is like this image of a centre-back and that is how it should be done and how a player in the centre should look like, the way he is, and I think, nowadays, you can fill it in different ways.
"Martinez, he is a great centre-back. He is so aggressive, he’s really good with his feet. He’s really good at tackling.
"You cannot write him off just because he’s maybe not the height you expect him to be. But I think he showed himself directly that he is capable of everything in the Premier League."
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