Just In Manchester United’s defender leaves Old Trafford and joins a new team
After having his contract at Manchester United cancelled, Eric Bailly is said to have signed a one-year deal with Besiktas.
Bailly has reportedly joined Besiktas on a permanent one-year transfer, and he will be a free agent in 2024, according to Fabrizio Romano (h/t UnitedInFocus). Given that he was let to go on a free transfer despite having one year remaining on his contract, it appears that the Red Devils were willing to just dump his salaries.
At Old Trafford, Bailly reportedly made over £80,000 per week. A Spor in Turkey (via @mufcMPB on X) stated that Manchester United and Bailly were in talks to sever their relationship just before the deal’s official closing.The negotiations appear to have been successful because Manchester United released a player who hadn’t participated in a Premier League match since December 2021. He made an impact while playing for Villarreal, earning a £30 million contract to join Manchester United in 2016.The 29-year-old Ivory Coast international managed to appear in 113 games for the club throughout the course of the subsequent seven years across various tournaments. Only once, during his first season at Manchester United in England, did he start more than 11 league games.Bailly is the latest English player that the Kara Kartallar have acquired this summer, joining Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Milot Rashica, Arthur Masuaku, and Daniel Amartey. Turkish clubs have till September 15 to complete new acquisitions.
Manchester United has been accused of favoring English players by Eric Bailly.
In a September 2022 interview, Eric Bailly stated that English players were preferred above players of other nationalities at Manchester United.The Ivorian’s remarks at Old Trafford would have been meant at managers who were there before Erik ten Hag, who had recently taken over the reins. He stated the following to the Times, as reported by SportBible:
“The club should give everyone an opportunity instead of favoring English players. Instead of just keeping an eye out for some, the team ought to promote competitiveness in the locker room. I’ve always felt that the national player is given priority.
“…Some players take it for granted that they will start, which makes the team less strong. I’m hoping that [Erik] Ten Hag can alter the dynamic since he has a lot of character.
Under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, Harry Maguire was notably kept as a captain and a regular starter at center-back despite his declining performance. But Lisandro Martinez took his place in the starting XI last year, and this summer, Ten Hag relieved him of his captaincy.In addition, the Dutchman added Tyrell Malacia to the lineup to challenge Luke Shaw, while Diogo Dalot has received a decent number of opportunities to replace Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the starting lineup.
