2
A huge part of this summer’s outgoings could be completed very soon in Eric Bailly.
Fabrizio Romano reports that Turkish Super Lig club Besiktas have agreed personal terms in principle with the Ivorian. The next step is to now talk with Manchester United to agree on the “best exit solution”.
Understand Besiktas have just reached an agreement in principle with Eric Bailly on personal terms 🚨⚪️⚫️🦅 #MUFC
Talks now with Manchester United to agree on the best exit solution. pic.twitter.com/ngrdF4siRl
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 11, 2023
Of all the sales this summer, Bailly was going to prove the most difficult to shift due to his extremely injury-prone nature.
The defender is on reportedly £80k/week and with a year left on his contract, fetching a transfer fee for him was a tall task.
There had been interest in him from Real Betis, among other clubs, but reports always said that United were ready to take a huge financial hit on their investment of £30 million made back in 2016.
Some reports even suggested that United were willing to let him go “almost for free” as the defender had completely slipped off the radar of Erik ten Hag’s plans.
The club recently sold Maguire and is looking for potential reinforcements in defence, with Bailly nowhere in the picture as a possible option.
He spent last season on loan at Olympique Marseille in Ligue 1 where he had a clause of the move being made permanent if he played a certain amount of games.
As expected, injuries led to him playing just 855 minutes of football in all competitions as the appearance clause was never triggered.
Now in Turkey, he will see familiar faces from his time at Old Trafford. Fred is close to confirming his move to Fenerbahce and Bailly will join him soon.
The best “exit solution” for the club, considering how desperate United have been to offload him, could be them agreeing to let him leave on a free transfer despite there being a year left on his contract.
His wages being off the books would count as a win in isolation so quick movement could be expected on this front.
