“Give us this day our Daley Blind,” is what another club will be telling Manchester United this summer as the versatile, but seldom used defender is reportedly heading out the Old Trafford exit door at the end of the season.
It’s been reported that another United defender, who used to get a lot of playing time, but sees more of the bench these days, Matteo Darmian, is also transferring out this window. It also seems that both players could be playing their club ball in Italy next season.
ESPN reports that Darmian could be headed to Juventus with “initial contact between United and the Serie A side ahead of a possible deal for the 28-year-old at the end of the season.”
As for Blind, he’s attracting interest from Inter Milan and Roma, with ESPN FC reporting that the Dutchman is “willing to take a pay cut to secure a move to Italy.”
Both of these defenders were Louis van Gaal summer transfer window buys, and each of them have made just three Premier League starts this season. They are alike in that both saw a stretch in which they were a part of the first team with moderate regularity, but they simply haven’t found their place under the Jose Mourinho regime, and it’s clear they never will.
Blind and Darmian seem to have been given their chances, but the Portugese has run out of patience with them.
On our list of eight players likely to leave United this summer, Darmian and Blind are both pretty high up the list.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube.