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Manchester United have confirmed the departure of Eric Bailly to Turkish giants, Besiktas.
As The Peoples Person has reported, Bailly has come to the end of a disastrous seven-year stay at Old Trafford, with Man United and Besiktas having finally come to an agreement.
A statement from the club on Twitter read, “Thank you for everything and good luck @EricBailly24.”
Thank you for everything and good luck, @EricBailly24 ❤️#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 5, 2023
The Ivorian centre-back was signed by Jose Mourinho in the summer of 2016 – just three seasons after his arrival in European football.
At the time, he was thought of as having a very high ceiling and his initial performances backed up these expectations. But seven years on, and with United having just shown their preference for re-signing 35-year-old Jonny Evans instead of relying on Bailly, it is clear all has not gone well.
From the beginning, Bailly’s blood and thunder style was perfect for dealing with the physicality of English football. He also had a penchant for turning up with sublime skills that were reminiscent of Zinedine Zidane, but then he could also produce, with just as much ease – and sometimes, in the same sequence – comical errors from the Titus Bramble repertoire.
Ultimately, though, Bailly can probably be said to have been undone not so much by what he did or could do, than by his inability to do anything at all due to frequent injuries.
At United, he made only 70 Premier League appearances across six seasons, with a further 17 League 1 appearances while on loan with Marseille. For some context, he had made 40 appearances in two senior seasons in La Liga just before he signed for the Red Devils.
Clearly, his physical health took a dramatic turn for the worse upon his arrival in Manchester, and perhaps that has made a telling difference.
Is it possible that with a lot more game time, Bailly could have ironed out the mistakes in his game? Fans who watched a younger Rio Ferdinand may recall that he too was quite error-prone in his youth but outgrew these errors with experience.
Still only 29, Bailly will likely consider himself young enough to turn things around in theory.
In reality, with his best performances now several years in the past, there is a sense that Bailly has reached his ceiling and it’s much lower than what it could have been.
