Jose Mourinho has wasted little time in isolating his transfer targets for Manchester United and the relatively unknown name of Eric Bailly could be on the playing roster before long.
That’s because Manchester United are in talks with his club, Villareal, with a positive outcome now expected. The Guardian reports:
Manchester United are hopeful of completing the signing of the Villarreal defender Eric Bailly after agreeing to pay a fee that could reach up to £30m.
and The Daily Mail reports:
Manchester United make £30million offer for Villarreal defender Eric Bailly as club look to beat off Bayern Munich and Arsenal
There have already been widespread rumours this weekend that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has agreed terms with Manchester United and will join the club pending reassurances over playing time in the coming season.
But it was never going to be long before Jose Mourinho, a man known for his meticulous defensive planning, would take a serious look at a defence which is currently underpinned by Daley Blind.
As talented as Blind is, he never looked like the sort of player who Mourinho would want at centre-back.
At 22 Bailly is already a monstrous athlete, who stands at almost 6ft 2in and who doesn’t muck around.
He’s played 15 times for The Ivory Coast and he has shot to prominence at Villareal having been signed just last year for a comparatively small fee of just £4m.
Manchester United and Villareal are said to be negotiating the structure of the deal with the club wanting to pay £15m up front.
We fully expect both Zlatan and Bailly to join United and another defender may yet be added to the squad this summer.
But the focus of the remaining weeks and months of the summer may well now be to find a top midfielder and a pacy right winger. Most United fans would be more than happy with Willian and Paul Pogba.
Here are some of Bailly’s best moments in his coltish career.
Manchester United fans – is Daley Blind going to be the man to make way for Bailly?