Former £30m man could re-join old club three months after Manchester United exit

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Former Manchester United defender Eric Bailly is reportedly in line for a return to Villarreal just three months after leaving the Premier League giants for Besiktas.

The Ivory Coast international became the first signing of the Jose Mourinho era when he moved to Old Trafford in a £30 million deal back in 2016. And, according to Radio Castellon, Eric Bailly’s career could be about to come full circle.

Villarreal have enquired about Bailly’s availability.

And one suspects that Besiktas will not be fighting too hard to keep the experienced, injury-prone centre-half in Istanbul. Bailly left Manchester United for a fresh start in Turkey as recently as September – his contract terminated by The Red Devils – but his short-lived stint at Besiktas reads like a guide of what not to do to endear yourself to a new club.

Former Manchester United man could move on again

Bailly’s last-gasp own goal against Lugano paved the way for Besiktas’ early exit from European competition. And, after the head coach was left publicly bemoaning the defender’s seemingly never-ending injury issues, Bailly was one of four first-team players banished by Besiktas for what they described as ‘poor performance and incompatibility within the team’ earlier this month, the 29-year-old given the Jadon Sancho treatment.

It is hard to imagine, then, that Besiktas would be willing to block Villarreal’s January approach.

“Villarreal are considering Eric Bailly as an option,” Fabrizio Romano explains on X. “(They are) working on a new centre-back for they January transfer window. Bailly, prepared to leave Besiktas and one of the names for Villarreal.

“Nothing agreed yet, just early stages (of discussions).”

Return to La Liga on the cards for Eric Bailly

Bailly spent just one year at Villarreal, joining from Espanyol in 2015 and leaving for a cool £30 million around 12 months later.

He would return to a club struggling in La Liga. Villarreal lost a host of star players over the summer – including Pau Torres and Arnaut Danjuma – and now find themselves 13^th in Spain’s top flight.