Daley Blind revealed his shock move to Bayern Munich has received the backing of Louis van Gaal and Erik ten Hag.
Former Netherlands boss Van Gaal, who stepped down after the World Cup, is a former Bayern head coach, while Manchester United manager Ten Hag previously had a spell in charge of Bayern’s reserve team.
Both think Blind has made a smart move by joining the German champions in a step that few saw coming.
The 99-cap Netherlands defender had been heavily linked with Royal Antwerp, but he jumped at the chance to join Bundesliga leaders Bayern, who are chasing an 11th consecutive league title.
Blind has committed to a six-month contract, with the 32-year-old adding the Bavarian giants to his illustrious list of clubs, having also had a four-year stint at United that ended in 2018.
Asked about the influence on the deal of Van Gaal and Ten Hag, who was his former coach at Ajax, Blind said: “I did not speak to them before. Everything went real quick.
“They messaged me after and told me it was a great step, a great opportunity. They were really happy and wished me all the luck.”
“There is a lot of news lately about Ajax and me, but I don’t think is the right moment to talk about that,” he said.
Blind is eager to fight for a place in the Bayern team, aware he will be “maybe not a first choice” initially.
His hope is that there will be the chance to extend his short-term deal, but Blind veered clear of looking too far into the future.
“We’ll see what happens,” he said. “I’ll enjoy the moment for now and see what happens after.”
Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic revealed talks with Blind happened prior to his Ajax exit being announced on December 27.
“Before Christmas we got in touch with him and he showed us straight away this would be his first option,” Salihamidzic said.
“We got along very well straightaway and had a good feeling for each other.
“He’s an asset for us. We know he’s a great player so we hope we can win a few titles together.”
