LONDON: Manchester United continued their overhaul of an under-performing squad by agreeing a 17.5 million Euros ($23 million) fee with Ajax Amsterdam for versatile Dutch international Daley Blind on Saturday.

“Manchester United is delighted to announce it has reached agreement with Ajax to sign Daley Blind, subject to a medical and personal terms,” United said in a statement on Saturday.

“A further announcement will be made when the process is complete.”

Blind, 24, was in United coach Louis van Gaal’s World Cup squad in Brazil, where he helped the Netherlands reach the semi-finals, and can play at left-back and as a defensive midfielder.

Blind is poised to become United’s fifth close-season signing, as Van Gaal seeks to restore the club’s flagging fortunes.

United have already spent over 130 million pounds ($215 million, 165 million euros) on new players, inclu­ding a British-record transfer fee of 59.7 million pounds to sign Argentina winger Angel di Maria from Real Madrid.

They have also signed England left-back Luke Shaw from Southampton, Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera from Athletic Bilbao, and Di Maria’s international team-mate Marcos Rojo from Sporting Lisbon.

Van Gaal is also expected to sell a number of players before the transfer window closes on Monday as he seeks to restructure his squad.

England midfielder Tom Cleverley is in talks with Aston Villa, Japan playmaker Shinji Kagawa has been linked with Valencia and Borussia Dortmund, and Mexican striker Javier Hernandez is a reported target for Juventus.

Published in Dawn, August 31th, 2014