Eric Bailly has been tipped to showcase his ‘exceptional’ qualities at Villarreal as the former Manchester United defender returns to Spain just five months after leaving the Premier League giants.
That ill-fated spell at Besiktas will not be remembered too fondly by anyone involved. Eric Bailly made only eight appearances in Turkey – a stint best remembered for a last-minute own goal in the Europa League, a spate of injuries, and a very public falling out of favour – and saw his contract terminated for the second time in the space of just a few months when Besiktas tore up his deal in December.
Bailly, who once set Manchester United back £30 million, now re-joins the club where he played arguably the best football of his career, returning to Villarreal seven years after his outstanding displays earned himself that big-money move to Old Trafford.
Former Manchester United man back to where it began
“The winter market is complicated,” smiles Villarreal coach Marcelino Garcia Toral. “With Eric, this possibility was arrived. And, apart from being a great footballer of whom we know the qualities that made him transfer to a club like United, we believe that he is at a very good age,”
“He is motivated to sign. He knows the league, the coaching staff and we believe that this adaptation will be easy. We know about his qualities, and we have to try to put them into practice.
“If we achieve it with his predisposition and attitude, we are talking about a player with exceptional conditions.”
United revamping centre-back options
Man United allowed Bailly to leave on a free in September. The Ivory Coast international failing to force his way into Erik ten Hag’s plans after a difficult loan spell at Marseille in France.
He is not the only centre-half who could be on his way out of Old Trafford. The similarly-injury prone Raphael Varane is reportedly unlikely to see his deal extended.
Antonio Silva, Jarrad Branthwaite and Goncalo Inacio are among the potential replacements.
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