It’s set to be a summer of change at Old Trafford and with Jose Mourinho finally at the Old Trafford reigns, it’s set to be a turbulent on too.
And despite the Euro’s being in full flow out in France, Jose lost no sleep and quickly suggested that Daley Blind and Juan Mata aren’t set to be part of his plans for the upcoming season.
And with that comes a transfer battle for two players who are quite capable of slotting into most Premier League sides- in particular Daley Blind.
And one side who might really benefit from having the Dutchman on-board is Arsenal, who seemingly enjoy having both defensive midfielders and utility players in their ranks – look at how long Methieu Flamini has been in their ranks.
So with that in mind, here’s FIVE reasons why Daley Blind would make sense if he signed for the Gunners…
Versatility
As we’ve seen for the past couple of seasons, Daley Blind is one of, if not the most versatile player in United’s ranks.
He’s played all across the defence and has also slotted into midfield when needed too.
Not only has he done the job when needed, he’s done it extremely well and as the season really gets going, having that ability to cover injuries and international call-ups is extremely useful.
He’s a leader
There was one particular occasion his leadership stood out and that was during the 1-0 win over Everton in April.
The Dutchman kept the impressive Romelu Lukaku in his mirror the whole game and for someone that is considerably smaller in frame his performance was made the more impressive.
He has a real ability to nick the ball of some of the best strikers in the Premier League and it was on this occasion he shone in particular.
His positioning is superb
We’ve seen it on both the domestic and international stages but Daley Blind’s positioning is fantastic.
He doesn’t possess bags of pace nor is he the most physically imposing, so he needs to rely on his ability to read the game more often than not.
For Arsenal, this would be a fantastic trait as they quickly look to counter-attack with the likes of Sanchez, Iwobi and Giroud all bursting forward at once.
He’s good at helping his team-mates
On a few occasions Blind has had to play alongside players that haven’t quite settled into English football just yet.
The likes of Darmian, Rojo and Varela all have a lot to learn and Louis Van Gaal often threw youngsters Fosu-Mesah and McNair into the starting lineup, meaning Blind was sometimes the most senior player in defence.
His ability to lead didn’t go unnoticed and its just another trait Arsenal could call upon if he signed.
Range of passing
As a traditional midfielder, you’d expect a player like Blind to have a good range of passing and we’ve seen that during his time at United too.
His solid left-foot has the ability to find anyone on the park and for creative players like Cazorla and co, this is good news indeed.
If Arsenal could agree a deal, this could prove to be an extremely fruitful transfer indeed.
