Daley Blind returned to Ajax for his third spell with the club during the summer transfer window, following Michel Sanchez from Girona to Amsterdam. 

Blind, along with Thilo Kehrer, who signed for Ajax from AS Monaco on a season-long loan, was brought in to give Ajax more depth in central defence. Dies Janse also returned to the club this summer following a successful loan spell at FC Groningen.

Blind started for Ajax in four games in the UEFA Conference League qualifying, against Vojvodina and Shelbourne FC.

In the second leg of the game against Shelbourne FC, Blind was replaced by Youri Baas at half-time and has not played for Ajax since.

After over two months on the sidelines, Blind is now seemingly close to returning to action. In Michel's post-match press conference following Ajax's 2-5 win over FC Groningen at the Euroborg, the Spanish head coach provided an update on Blind's situation.

"We have had big problems with some players, but I hope we can get them back as soon as possible," Michel explained.

"It is true that Daley is training individually and I hope he can help us again next week."

Blind still has real quality and is obviously very experienced, but it is unclear how much game time he will actually get when he returns.

Youri Baas has started the majority of games for Ajax in the left centre-back position. He offers Ajax a lot of quality in possession and will likely continue to start regularly in that position.

Janse gives Michel another option on the left side of central defence and has looked very good in the limited minutes he has played so far. The game against Groningen was only his second start in the Eredivisie this season, but he produced an impressive performance.

Janse was a key player for Groningen last season during his loan spell and needs to continue playing regularly. He recently extended his contract at the Johan Cruijff ArenA and will likely become Ajax's first-choice left centre-back when Baas leaves.

Baas attracted interest from Eintracht Frankfurt and Porto in the summer, but neither club reached an agreement with Ajax. Should he leave in January, it would mean that Blind would likely see his minutes increase, as he and Janse would likely share the minutes in the left centre-back position.

While Blind's game time may be limited when he returns to action, he is still a quality footballer, is a leader and adds significant experience to the Ajax squad.  Because of those factors, he will continue to be an important player for the club as they look to return to the top of Dutch football.

Ajax have five quality centre-backs, and if they make it to the latter stages of the UEFA Conference League, that squad depth will be very useful due to the number of games they will have to play.