Manchester United legend reveals why Ajax signed Blind and Tadic

Ajax general manager Edwin van der Sar has revealed why the club signed Daley Blind and Dusan Tadic.

Blind rejoined his boyhood club after a four-year stint at Manchester United and Tadic was roped from Southampton. Van der Sar said that the signing of the two heralds a change in philosophy for Ajax. The Blind deal will potentially rise to €20.5million after an initial €11.4m acquisition of Serbia winger Tadic from Southampton.

“It is a clear, small philosophy change. Normally we develop young players and that has been a strength of Ajax, but sometimes you need an anchor, someone who has the qualities already, has played in the Premier League. We have added more determination, more grit, more power and more game intelligence.” the ex-Netherlands goalkeeper told Omnisport, speaking courtesy of Adidas.

The arrivals of Blind and Tadic followed the departure of Justin Kluivert to Roma.

“It is an interesting case. We would have ideally agreed on a new contract with him. We spoke with him and his agent for 15 months and somehow we couldn’t get closer. We thought we may have benefitted from having him for another couple of years, to play with his friends. He came through the academy, he is now becoming a senior player and we thought he may have stayed to get another year’s experience in Europe. But he is a strong player, quick, gets assists, and we wish him all the best in Rome.” he said.

Ajax has been successful in keeping Barcelona targets Frankie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt

signed a professional contract with FK Vojvodina and played his first competitive matches in the Meridian SuperLiga at the age of 18. While playing for Vojvodina, he gained invaluable experiences playing against great top-flight teams (even against Atlético Madrid) and playing almost four full seasons without any major injuries or incidents. His potential in big European games was displayed in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase when he scored a goal against Austria Wien when he was only 20 years old.

In 2010, Vojvodina sold Dušan Tadić to FC Groningen for the equivalent of €1.23 million. On 8 August 2010, Tadić made his official debut for the club in an Eredivisie against Ajax, playing full match and provide assist for Tim Matavž goal in 2–2 home draw. On 18 December 2010, Tadić has scored his first goal in Groningen, against Excelsior in 2–2 away draw. On 30 January 2011, he scored twice and provide one assist in a 1–4 away league draw over Heerenveen. Tadić has finished perfect 2010–11 season with 7 goals, 22 assists in 41 matches. He had the third highest number of assists in Europe for the 2010–11 season. In front of him are just Mesut Özil and Lionel Messi

On 10 April 2012, it was announced that Tadić had signed for FC Twente in a €7.7 million move from FC Groningen.  In his debut game on 12 August 2012, he scored two goals against his former club.

Tadić became the first signing under new Southampton manager Ronald Koeman on 8 July 2014, signing on a four-year deal. He joined for an undisclosed fee, thought to be £10.9 million. He made his competitive debut on 17 August in their first game of the Premier League season, playing 74 minutes of a 2–1 defeat at Liverpool before being substituted for fellow debutant Shane Long. Tadić assisted Southampton’s goal through a one-two with goalscorer Nathaniel Clyne ]

He scored his first Southampton goal on 23 September with a penalty against Arsenal in a 2–1 League Cup victory at Emirates Stadium. His first league goal for the club came in an 8–0 trouncing of Sunderland on 18 October, in which he assisted four others, equalling the Premier League record for the most assists in a single match.

On 13 December, Tadić had a penalty saved by Tom Heaton as Southampton went on to lose 1–0 away to Burnley.  He scored in a 2–0 win over Arsenal on 1 January 2015,  and ten days later scored the only goal as Southampton defeated Manchester United at Old Trafford and rose into third position at their expense.  This marked Southampton’s first league victory at Old Trafford since 1988.

Tadić scored twice in a 3–0 win against Norwich City on 30 August 2015 for the Saints’ first league win of the season.

He scored another brace in a 4–2 win over relegated Aston Villa on 23 April 2016.[19] In the next game, he provided three assists in a 4–2 win over Manchester City, becoming only the fourth player to achieve three or more assists in more than one Premier League game

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *