Surajit Das
Transfer News: Manchester United reluctant to agree to a loan deal with AC Milan for Eric Bailly
According to transfer news from Gazzetta Dello Sport (h/t SportsWitness), AC Milan are interested in loaning Eric Bailly, but Manchester United are eyeing a permanent deal.
After making a big blunder in a crucial game against Manchester City, Eric Bailly fell down the pecking order. The Ivorian defender did get a chance to prove his worth against Chelsea in a Premier League clash, but he failed to provide any convincing performance. After suffering from an injury in the final week of December, the 27-year-old has remained sidelined, but that isn’t a big excuse for only managing seven appearances across all competitions.
AC Milan have shown an interest to end the misery of the Manchester United defender by signing him. It is even believed that Milan managers and decision-makers have already taken part in a meeting to decide the possibility of the transfer.
Even though Rossoneri wants to secure the service of Bailly, they are only interested in a loan move with ‘no definitive commitment.’ However, the demand isn’t in line with Manchester United’s desire of securing an ‘immediate’ transfer fee.
Bailly is still the favourite choice of Milan for the position, but if Manchester United disagrees with a loan deal, they would be obliged to look elsewhere for alternative options.
Despite signing Raphaël Varane in the summer transfer window, Manchester United’s defence has been overrun at times this season. Due to the absence of Eric Bailly and Harry Maguire, Ralf Rangnick was pushed to start Phil Jones against Wolves which showed the vulnerability of United’s depth.
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Even though Bailly isn’t helping a lot currently, selling him without finding a replacement would be foolish. We have seen Chelsea struggle in the current campaign with many injuries. We wouldn’t like to be in a similar situation if we haven’t been in one already. It would be very convenient for the team if our board strikes a deal with Milan for a loan move that includes a recall clause.
Selling him permanently is certainly a good prospect as we would be smart to clear house before signing a top defender, but then again, it remains to be seen if a club as big as AC Milan want to take a gamble with the ex-Villarreal defender whose career has been riddled with injuries and inconsistent performances.
