Manchester United hero Daley Blind has heaped praise on former teammate Lisandro Martinez.

Blind, who was at United from 2014 to 2018, played alongside the Argentine when they were at Ajax.

Given Martinez is now a star in United's defense, Blind admits he knew the Argentina star always had it in him to go all the way to the top of the game.

Speaking to the UTD Podcast, Blind said: "I think, at the moment I started playing centre back, there were some critical notes about my height or my, how you say it, I don't look like [Nemanja] Vidic for example!

"I think, in England, there is like this image of a centre-back and that is how it should be done and how a player in the center should look like, the way he is, and I think, nowadays, you can fill it in different ways.

"Martinez, he is a great center-back.

"He is so aggressive, he's really good with his feet. He's really good at tackling.

"You cannot write him off just because he's maybe not the height you expect him to be.

“But I think he showed himself directly that he is capable of everything in the Premier League."