Rijo Sam Daniel
Transfer News: AC Milan plot summer transfer for Manchester United centre-back Eric Bailly after ending January interest
According to the French publication Foot Mercato via Sempremilan (h/t Manchester Evening News), AC Milan are planning to target Manchester United centre-back, Eric Bailly, in the summer transfer window after ending their January interest in him. He was recently involved in a high-profile penalty miss that saw his national team crash out of the African Cup of Nations.
Milan were interested in bringing Bailly to San Siro after they lost Simon Kjaer and Fikayo Tomori to damning injury blows. They had tried their chances to get him, but their efforts were in vain after Man United denied the opportunity this winter transfer window.
The 27-year-old is looking likely to stay with the Red Devils past this month despite his desire to leave elsewhere. However, it is stated that I Rossoneri would be back in contention next summer when they will reconsider their options. They have already contacted his representatives, so the foundations have been laid in motion.
Sensible decision
Earlier, Fabrizio Romano had confirmed that the Ivorian is set to stay at Old Trafford past this January. With Phil Jones seemingly close to leaving us, it is understandable why that is the case. After all, we still want to have a healthy number of options in the centre of the defence with the season being still at large.
While we may eventually want to get rid of the Man United defender, it would be wise to keep hold of him in the short term. Raphael Varane has suffered from injury issues, whereas Harry Maguire has had a tough season even if he was good just before the international break.
With Victor Lindelof being the only other option, it leaves us with four centre-backs, excluding Jones. In such a case, we cannot afford to lose the Ivory Coast international especially, when we are engaged in three different competitions. We also have matches that were postponed due to Covid-19 that still need to be played.
For all these reasons, it is good that we have refuted the attempts from the Serie A club and decided to keep the Red Devils ace for now. Moreover, we are not affected by it to a great extent since they would be back vying for his services at the end of the season.
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So it is a win-win situation for us at this point, so there was no reason for us to let go of the African defender. At the same time, it’s not a bad idea to bring in a new face in defence if he does leave in the summer. He has been largely inconsistent and has had his fair share of injury issues too. Let’s wait and see the decision the club will take when the season ends.
