Van der Sar Proud Of Blind's Develoment

Manchester United legend Edwin van der Sar has expressed his pride at Daley Blind's development during his first season at Old Trafford.

The versatile midfielder left van der Sar's current club Ajax to join the Reds last summer and the Dutch club's marketing director feels Blind's progress is testament to the coaching ability in Amsterdam.

"Of course, we're proud," van der Sar told ManUtd.com. "Even though we had a little bit of a headache over how to replace a player like Daley.

"He was eight years old when he came to Ajax and I saw him as a little boy with his father [Danny] when he came to the matches and was in the players’ lounge or at the training ground. It was great to see the way he developed in those 16 years through the Academy and into the first team, playing in a fantastic World Cup, and then to get a great transfer to a club that is very stable and a great club under the guidance of Louis [van Gaal]. I hope he continues with the way he is developing.

"He has really shown a lot of maturity in the way he plays, whether in midfield or the left-back position, of course everybody is really proud of how he’s doing but there must also be compliments for the coaches at Ajax and our philosophy of bringing players through into the first team and making sure they get a great career afterwards."

Blind is in line to win another cap for his country when the Netherlands face USA on Friday, live on MUTV, and he is one of a long production line of talent from the Ajax system.

"OK, it's a great advert for the Academy but I hope now United stop taking players from Ajax if possible because I know United have good youth set-up also," joked van der Sar. "So let's hope Louis looks a little more at his youth set-up than at our players!"

One such United youth talent, Callum Gribbin, who made his Under-21 bow in the final game of the season at Manchester City, is well known to van der Sar. Gribbin scored both goals in an Under-13 match between United and Ajax ahead of van der Sar's testimonial at the Amsterdam Arena in 2011. Edwin's son Joe was also involved in that game, so he is well aware of the emerging talents back in Manchester.

"I know Gribbo also from the time when I watched the sessions with Joe at the Aon Training Complex and it’s great," added van der Sar. "There are some others, I think Marcus Rashford is another of the kids there and, last year, you took a player from our youth academy – Timothy Fosu-Mensah. I saw his name also on the Under-21s' bench recently so I’m getting the updates from the Under-18s and it’s good.

"It’s important for us, it's our philosophy, to focus on youth and the transition from the Academy into the first team and I think Louis has that also. He will always have a look to see which young players there are to bring through."

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