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United agree £14m fee for Blind

Richard Jolly | ESPN FC
August 30, 2014
Van Gaal: United need time

Manchester United have agreed a fee with Ajax for Daley Blind and the Netherlands international is set to become their fifth major summer signing.

The 24-year-old will reportedly cost United £14 million and his arrival will take their summer spending to £146m.

United sources told ESPN the club moved for Blind after opting not to bid for Juventus' Arturo Vidal and deciding they had no interest in Sporting Lisbon defensive midfielder William Carvalho, before the club confirmed via its official Twitter account that a deal had been agreed.

Their bid came a few days after Ajax's director of football Marc Overmars warned United they would have to pay "top price" for Blind.

Both the Dutch champions and Blind's agent, Rob Jansen, insisted earlier in the week they had no contact with United, but that changed as Louis van Gaal looked to bolster his defensive options following his side's poor start to the season.

Blind has played primarily as a defensive midfielder for Ajax but was used by Van Gaal as a left wing-back and a left-sided centre-back in his Netherlands side, helping his country finish third at the World Cup.

United have already broken the British transfer record by spending an initial £59.7m on Real Madrid's Argentina international Angel Di Maria.

They have also bought another Argentinian, Sporting Lisbon's Marcos Rojo, for £16m and brought in Southampton left-back Luke Shaw for an initial £27m and Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera for £28.8m.

This article originally appeared on ESPN FC

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