Manchester United central defender Eric Bailly has reportedly been offered to a number of clubs so far this summer with the latest being Turkish side Fenerbahce, who have had dealing with United in the past five years with Robin van Persie and Nani both signing for the club when they left the Old Trafford club. Just last week, Bailly was offered to AC Milan with the Italian club rejecting the opportunity to sign the Ivorian defender this summer.
The Sun has reported that United have now offered the 26-year-olf to Fenerbahce which makes it look like, despite starting against LASK and FC Copenhagen in the UEFA Europa League, his future at the club is going to be cut short. Whilst that does not seem fair, it has to be considered that the player’s injury record does not look all that great but Phil Jones should be out of the door before him. That said, Bailly’s contract will expire in the summer of 2022 with Jones’ contract expiring a year later.
This season, Bailly has made just 11 first team appearances, making one more in the Premier League 2 playing as one of the three overage outfield players in accordance with the rules at that level, playing jus 780 minutes of football in total this season. United have at least one more match to play this season, against Sevilla in the semi-final of the UEFA Europa League, which could lead to a further and final match of the season if the club reaches the final, which could be against either Inter Milan or Shakhtar Donetsk.
Since signing for United from Villarreal for £30 million during the summer of 2016, under the management of Jose Mourinho, Bailly has suffered four long-term injuries at the club; his first a knee injury seeing him miss eight matches during his debut season at the club. His second injury, a bruise, saw him miss five matches during the 2017/18 season, then suffering an ankle injury that same season, missing 21 matches. The player required knee surgery last summer, missing 28 matches for United, recovering over the Christmas period.
That injury record could stop United trusting the player moving forward. If Jones’ nine years at the club has shown anything, a player that suffers injury after injury is going to be a liability. Jones, who should be forced out of the club before Bailly, is out of action currently after playing just eight times this season. The former England defender has suffered 19 separate injuries in his time at United which has led to him missing 121 matches for the club – this is not ideal at all.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be itching to get his summer rebuild sorted with the aim of getting his squad ready for the new season, which is more than 30 days away – although those English teams still participating in European competition; United and Manchester City, will be granted a later start to the new Premier League season, giving their players a sufficient break before heading into another long season – hopefully not as long as this one, which still has another week and a few days to play.
Written by John Walker
