Blind at cut-price
OLD TRAFFORD chiefs are prepared to lose money on Daley Blind in order to get him off their books.
Manchester United were looking to recoup the
£14million they paid for the defender in 2014.
Holland international Blind,
28, signed from Ajax and linked with a move back there, is happy at Old Trafford but boss Jose Mourinho is ready to clear the decks.
The player is out of contract next year but United also have the insurance policy of an extension.
The Dutchman has also been troubled with injury and United are now prepared to take a loss on his original transfer fee and let Blind go for £10m.
ADRIAN STILES
JOSE MOURINHO watched with interest as Arsene Wenger called it a day at Arsenal at the age of 68.
And guess what? The Manchester United boss, at a youthful 55, can see himself defying the ageing process to carry on managing until he is drawing his pension.
In fact, Mourinho is so settled into life in Manchester that he cannot envisage a career switch at an opposing club at home or abroad.
Mourinho is at the Theatre of Dreams for the foreseeable future, happy to go beyond the three years and three months in his first stint at Chelsea.
The United boss, asked if he could stay at Old Trafford for his longest unbroken spell, said: “I think so. To be honest at other clubs I had the feeling of already thinking about ‘What next?’ – I had things I had to do.
“I had to go to Italy for sure. I had to go to Spain for sure. Things I really wanted to do.
“At this moment, there isn’t anything I have around the corner, waiting because I want to do something different. I don’t want to do anything different to what I am doing now.”
So could Mourinho carry on in the toughest job in football until the ripe old age of his rival Wenger?
Mourinho added with a laugh: “For sure. I will have to change clubs, though, because you don’t allow me to stay here.
“I think until the point you lose your motivation you keep improving.
“Sometimes people say, ‘Enough is enough, I don’t want more’. But until that I think it is the kind of job where experience makes you better.
“I can’t see myself doing 22 years at one club because you don’t allow it.
“I would see myself but you don’t allow it any more – the new concept of the media, the social media, the pundit industry, the way people can express and influence the opinion.
“I think it is too much pressure not just for the manager but also for the club.
“I think it is impossible, especially without any kind of success.
“To stay a manager, to have four or five years to try to get a trophy and to try to improve and change the team, I don’t think you allow that any more. Am I (63.55 per cent win ratio) Honours: League Titles (3), EFL Cup (3), FA Cup (1), Community Shield (1) a better manager now than 10 years ago? Yes in every way.
“Obviously I am much more mature. At every level – training, matches, relations with the players, it feels like everything is deja vu.
“So yes, it is a job where the more experience you have the better you are.”
So Mourinho will witness the end of an era with Wenger riding off into the sunset, probably to another club on the European circuit.
But how should Wenger be remembered?
Mourinho added: “First of all, I don’t think he is dead. And I don’t think he ends his career.
“I am going to remember him as a big opponent. As the manager of The Invicibles. The Invicibles I met when I arrived in the country in 2004. The Invicibles who made me a better coach.
“That is the way I would remember him.”
Meanwhile, Eric Bailly has spoken about the mentality United will need to finish second in the Premier League – and the challenge today’s opponents Arsenal face as they try to compete on two fronts.
While the Red Devils are aiming to finish the campaign as league runners-up and FA Cup winners, the visitors are balancing the push for Europa League qualification with the chance to win that competition this term.
They face a semi-final second leg at Atletico Madrid this week with the tie finely balanced after a 1-1 draw last Thursday.
Bailly recalled the demands of juggling league and European ambitions last season, when United won the Europa League.
“I believe it comes down to the mental condition of the team,” the centre-back, 24, said.
“I can’t comment on the mental strength of the Arsenal team but it will be a factor in their performances as they manage the stresses of balancing the two competitions.”
The Ivorian defender believes there is plenty of confidence within Mourinho’s squad and that the Reds have the right attitude to ensure a successful finish.
“We are always confident that we can win – we are Manchester United,” he said.
“And we go into every game with the same mentality that we have to win.
“We want second place – that’s the aim – but we cannot look beyond this game. We always want to fight.
“We’ll fight against Arsenal and we know they are a big team with many quality players and that is our only focus now. It is a very different proposition to finishing fourth, even if both put us into the Champions League.”