Manchester United defender Eric Bailly is set to return to Old Trafford when his loan at Marseille ends this summer.
The decision to extend Eric Bailly’s contract at Manchester United in 2021 continues to look like an odd choice.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was the manager in charge at the time and he was subsequently reluctant to pick him. Ralf Rangnick and Erik ten Hag both also agreed that Bailly had no place in United’s first choice XI.
Bailly hit out early in the season to say he was denied opportunities at United. Whatever the truth in that, he has failed to make the most of his loan move to Marseille.
Eric Bailly loan spell
Eric Bailly will not be joining Marseille permanently. He has not played enough games to trigger their purchase option, and nor is there any appetite at the Ligue 1 club to bring him back.
Bailly has not started a game for Marseille since February and he has only four league starts all season for the club, and nine in all competitions.
The first half of the season was predictably interrupted by injuries, then he had a suspension, and Marseille are simply now preferring their alternative options.
Bailly’s former Ivory Coast manager Patrick Beaumelle has told Africa Foot United he is disappointed with the way the defender’s loan spell has gone.
Beaumelle, manager of Ivory Coast between 2020 and 2022, said: “It’s a mess. He remains and will remain one of the best defenders I have known.
“It’s a shame because a 100% Bailly could have helped the team to grab points to be second. He has not always been 100 per cent, it is perhaps the fault of bad luck, when he loved OM and would have appreciated being part of this project.”
Manchester United have no interest in keeping Eric Bailly on a permanent basis either – but he is under contract for another year.
Last year United had to loan him rather than sell on a permanent basis, and after disappointing spell at Marseille, we don’t expect clubs to be queuing up to offer a big fee for the defender.
This will be a case of United taking whatever they can get, and it might just have to be another loan which gets his wages off the books.
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