Eric Bailly’s post Manchester United struggles are showing no signs of abating with the Besiktas defender injured again after leaving the Premier league giants over the summer.
A last minute own goal in Europe, gifting the opposition a 95th minute winner? Check. A fall-out with his coach, subbed off at half-time for ‘inappropriate’ conduct? That too. A litany of injury issues? Yes, and yes.
It’s fair to say that almost everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong for Eric Bailly since Manchester United terminated his contract and sent him packing to Turkey in September.
Eric Bailly struggling after Manchester United exit
The one-time £30 million signing has missed games for shoulder pains and neck problems this season. Now, you can add a thigh injury to his growing collection of knocks and niggles. Besiktas confirming on their official website that Bailly is set for yet another spell on the sidelines.
“In the MRI scan of our football player Eric Bailly, who felt pain in the posterior muscle of his left thigh, tension and bleeding were detected in the biceps femoris,” reads a statement from the Super Lig outfit.
“Eric Bailly’s treatment process was started by our medical team.”
Perhaps Turkish reporter Serdar Saridag said it best. Quipping on X that ‘It’s not news when Eric Bailly gets injured, it’s news when he recovers’.
The Ivory Coast international is never far away from a return to the treatment table. And, after his Manchester United career was ruined by a series of long-term absences, it seems that injury curse has followed Bailly to Istanbul.
Only seven games this season
The former Villarreal defender, Jose Mourinho’s first signing at Old Trafford back in 2016, has only featured seven times for Besikras. And he may have to wait a while for appearance number eight to come around.
Former Besiktas vice-president Serhan Cetinsaya, meanwhile, beleives the Turkish giants would have been better served putting all their eggs in Sergio Ramos’ basket. The Real Madrid legend left Paris Saint-Germain a couple of months ago.
“Instead of purchasing (Daniel) Amartey, Bailly and (Jean) Onana, I’d have bought one Sergio Ramos,” Cetinsaya tells Yenicag Gazetesi. “One Ramos is worth two defenders. He still at a very high level at the age of 37.”
Ramos reportedly rebuffed Man United’s advances before returning to Sevilla on a free transfer.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
