Aniket Rai
Eric Bailly admits he considered joining Manchester City before joining United
In an interview with Mundo Deportivo (h/t Manchester Evening News), Eric Bailly revealed that he considered joining Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City before he was signed by Jose Mourinho at Manchester United.
The Ivorian international has featured in just 89 matches in all competitions for Manchester United since his move from Villarreal in the summer of 2016 and has never cemented his place in the United line-up.
Eric Bailly impressed in his time at Villarreal and caught the attention of several clubs, which included Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Nevertheless, Eric Bailly decided to join Manchester United because of the prospect of playing under Jose Mourinho and Manchester United settled with buying John Stones from Everton instead.
“In the summer of 2016 there were many rumours. I was in Ivory Coast, in the dining room at home with my mother when the phone rang. It was a Portuguese number; Mourinho. He told me to come with him, that he liked me since he saw me with Espanyol and Villarreal. Manchester City were also interested, but if Mourinho calls you, you can’t say no.”
Bailly also revealed that there was interest from Barcelona, but the interest wasn’t solid.
“…You can’t say no to Barça either. It just didn’t happen because the interest was not public or so explicit.”
The Ivorian went on to talk about the impact of current United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the manager who replaced Jose Mourinho in 2018. Bailly explained what the Norwegian asks of a defender, no matter who is picked to play.
“We have known how to overcome adversity because the dressing room is with Solskjaer. He is a close guy who has a good relationship with everyone and understands the codes of the football player. At the back, he [Solskjaer] asks for concentration and more character. There are small mistakes that have been avoided. We need to pay more attention to plays that seem of little danger and that end up costing us too much.”
The defender recently suffered a muscle injury in late October and was expected to be back with the squad by the time they faced Southampton at the weekend. However, that hasn’t quite happened as there have been no clear indications about his return.
Before his injury, Bailly only played 97 minutes in the Premier League this season and it seems as if Solskjaer has decided to stick with the pairing of Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof whenever the two are fit.
