Barcelona ‘interested in’ Manchester United’s Daley Blind to replace Javier Mascherano

The biggest transfer stories from across Europe's back pages, including the future of Manchester United defender, and Barcelona target, Daley Blind.

Daley Blind, left, established himself as a central defender for Manchester United this season. Alex Livesey / Getty Images

Daley Blind is splashed across the front page of Spanish newspaper Sport on Wednesday, with the outlet touting a "Blind surprise" for Barcelona.

The all-purpose Manchester United player was a fixture under Louis van Gaal, figuring at left-back, centre-back and in midfield. He has made 85 appearances for the club across all competitions since a 2014 transfer from his boyhood club Ajax.

But with Jose Mourinho taking the reins at Old Trafford, rumblings around the club have suggested the Portuguese doesn’t see Blind in his plans, and neither is the Dutchman particularly happy about how Van Gaal’s exit went down.

Sport, then, fills the gap in saying Barca are "interested in" the defender and pegs his price in a cover blurb at €18 million (Dh73.5m).

The paper also adds in its cover text that Blind “has Barca style” and that Barcelona “like him for his versatility and covering various necessary positions”.

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In a story on the AS website, the paper asserts Blind can be "unlinked" from United. It reports that Barcelona manager Luis Enrique "rang the Dutch international two years ago" when he was on his way out at Ajax, but that Van Gaal ultimately swayed him toward Old Trafford.

Barcelona have had some notable departures reported in recent days, with both Javier Mascherano and Dani Alves widely said to be heading to Juventus. Blind would make sense in light of that news, with Mascherano in particular — with his history as a midfielder-turned-centre-back — a logical void to directly replace.

Blind, 26, made 143 appearances across six seasons with Ajax from 2008-14, and did a loan stint at Groningen, before he arrived at United two summers ago. Van Gaal bought him for the relatively modest price of £14 million (Dh74.3m), considering some of the other outlays made during the past two years, and Blind proved to be one of United’s better purchases in that time.

He recently defended his record and reiterated his commitment to United in speaking to Dutch outlet NOS, saying: "I might not be as big as Pepe, but I think I have shown in the Premier League that I can hold my own defensively.

“We conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League and I think we got the most clean sheets. That’s something to be proud of.

“You might be looking for a certain statement [about my future], but I will just give my all under Mourinho. We will have to wait and see whether anything changes for me.”

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