Premier League forgotten man Eric Bailly will bring an end to his Manchester United career with a move to Besiktas imminent.
Harry Maguire is not the only out-of-favour centre-half seemingly on the Old Trafford exit ramp. West Ham, according to talkSPORT, have agreed a £30 million fee for a man who was stripped of the captain’s armband by Erik ten Hag in July.
Any hopes Manchester United had of bringing in a similarly sizeable fee for Eric Bailly, however, have long since gone up in smoke.
It speaks volumes about how far the Ivorian’s reputation has fallen that Marseille opted against triggering the £5 million option-to-buy clause in his contract after an underwhelming loan spell at the Stade Velodrome last season.
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Eric Bailly following Harry Maguire out of Man United
Bailly, according to Turkish reporter Ogun Sahinoglu, could finalise his move to Super Lig giants Besiktas ‘by tomorrow at the latest’.
Bailly will reportedly sign a three-year deal while taking home a weekly wage of £33,000-a-week.
That is around £50,000 less than the former Villarreal stopper currently takes home in Manchester (Spotrac).
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Bailly has less than 12 months left on his current deal. It is expected that Man United will allow Besiktas to sign the injury-hit centre-half free of charge. The absence of any transfer fee will be offset by getting Bailly’s £80,000-a-week contract off their already oversized wage bill.
‘Need to move on’
The first signing of the Jose Mourinho era back in 2016; Bailly was also left out of Ten Hag’s squad – alongside the now-departed Alex Telles – for the USA pre-season tour.
In addition to he and Maguire, Man United could also ship out midfield duo Fred and Donny van de Beek. The window closes in around three weeks’ time.
“They need to move on, I really do (think so),” Sir Alex Ferguson’s former assistant coach Rene Meuelensteen, who worked for the Red Devils in a variety of roles from 2001 to 2013, told talkSPORT (3 August, 10am).
“New faces gives new energy, new vibrancy to the team. And I think that’s what they need.”
As for the West Ham-bound Maguire, Meulensteen pointed out that; “It is very clear that the writing has been on the wall for a bit. He needs to play. If I was Harry, I would be knocking on the manager’s door and saying please ‘let me go’.”
Fred could join Bailly in Turkey. Van de Beek, meanwhile, is likely to end up in Spain.