Blind determined to impress Mourinho

Manchester United defender Daley Blind is targeting a place in Jose Mourinho's plans for next season, after the Portuguese coach was confirmed as the club's new manager.

In a Dutch interview shown on MUTV this week, United's no.17 expressed his respect for Mourinho, a man he previously faced while playing for former club Ajax.

“I’ve met Jose several times but don’t know him personally," he said. "For example, I played for Ajax against Real Madrid when he was the coach of Madrid, so I saw him then.

"I think he's a coach who's achieved a lot and I’m very excited to work with someone like him. I'm going do my best and work very hard."

Blind was a standout performer during the 2015/16 campaign, making more appearances than any of his team-mates and helping the Reds to keep the highest total of clean sheets in the Barclays Premier League, 18. The versatile Dutchman did all this while playing as a centre-back, which has not been his regular position in the past.

“I think I’ve shown I can defend as well as a [natural] central defender in the Premier League," he said.

"If you look at our defending statistics at United, we had the most clean sheets and conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League [35, joint with Tottenham]. That’s something we can be proud of. I played almost every game and that gives me a good feeling."