As Roma are ready to close a deal to bring Manchester United’s Eric Bailly to the Stadio Olimpico, according to reports from Italy.
Bailly is now United’s fifth choice centre back following the arrival of Lisandro Martinez from Ajax during the summer.
And while he is keen to stay and fight for his place, reports say he has agreed to move on if his chances of succeeding are not considered realistic.
This has led to interest from a number of sources, including Premier League new boys Fulham and La Liga side Sevilla, but it seems that Bailly’s former boss José Mourinho is about to win the race for his signature.
“Dybala and Wijnaldum but not just them. Roma, unleashed on the market, are also closing [a deal] for Eric Bailly of Manchester United,” Calciomercato.com reports.
“They are ironing out the details for the central defender born in 1994, on the basis of a loan with the right of redemption set at 8 million euros.
“In recent days some social media signals have been sent by the player, who put some likes on Roma posts from his profiles.”
Other outlets in Italy are not getting excited about this one yet and there is little noise about the move in the local Rome papers.
United are more than likely keen to move Bailly on but would have preferred a sale in order to boost their transfer kitty this summer.
Having already loaned out Alex Telles to Sevilla, another loan, which might potentially even involve United paying part of Bailly’s salary, is not ideal.
The Old Trafford club may therefore hope that either Fulham or Sevilla stay in the race and offer a permanent switch rather than having to accept the compromise offered by Roma.
The Italian side have, of course, done their centre back shopping at Old Trafford before, loaning Chris Smalling in 2019 before buying him outright for €15 million in October 2020.
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