Blind played under ten Hag before the manager’s move to Manchester (Picture: Getty)
Former Manchester United star Daley Blind almost got in contact with Erik ten Hag with hope of returning to Old Trafford in January.
The versatile Dutchman spent four years at the club after being signed by Louis van Gaal in 2014, winning the FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League during his time in Manchester.
Having returned to Ajax, he was released by the Dutch giants in December and was briefly a free agent before signing a short-term deal with Bayern Munich.
Before heading to Germany, the 33-year-old says he considered giving his former Ajax boss ten Hag a call about a potential return to United.
Speaking on the UTD Podcast, Blind admitted he was a little tempted to reach out but understood he was ‘not really needed’.
‘No [I didn’t call him],” said Blind. ‘To be honest, he has the same agent as me, so the connection is not that far away.
‘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.
Blind joined Bayern Munich in January (Picture: Getty)
‘I am very thankful for the time [I had] with him. I learned a lot from him. I understand it.’
Blind played in a number of different roles at United, including at centre-half where he formed a solid partnership with Chris Smalling during the 15-16 season.
Standing under six foot in height, Blind proved many of his doubters wrong in English football during his days in that centre-half role with Lisandro Martinez doing likewise, making a mockery of early season predictions after a superb first season in England.
‘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,’ Blind 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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He was available on a free transfer at the time.