Ajax legend Danny Blind has revealed how he advised his son Daley Blind against joining Arsenal as a youngster.
Blind Jr. currently finds himself playing in his second spell at Ajax, having returned to the club from Manchester United in 2018.
Before then, he had spent all of his career with the Dutch club, rising through their youth ranks before establishing himself as a first-team player following a loan spell with FC Groningen.
He’s since made 266 appearances for the club and enjoyed resounding success, too, with five Eredivisie titles, one Dutch cup and two Dutch Super Cups to his name.
Things could have been very different for him, though, with Blind revealing back in 2015 that Arsenal had once made him a very tempting offer to join them as a youngster.
His father has now backed that up, and revealed what he told his son about the potential switch at the time.
“Daley was approached by Arsenal when he was fifteen or sixteen,” he told Ajax Life.
“He wanted to take a look there. We went to London and were very well received. Thierry Henry was there too. That makes an impression on a young boy.
“Then you are there as a father to say: it is a wonderful recognition, but the training of Ajax is so embedded in the club.
“You don’t just step into an adventure like that, while playing at a club where, at eighteen or nineteen, you can play in a top league in the Netherlands”.
