Eric Bailly Transfer News: According to reports, Olympique de Marseille will not exercise the option to acquire Eric Bailly permanently from Manchester United this summer.
After signing with Les Phoceens on loan for the last season, Bailly reportedly has the option to make the transfer permanent for €6 million provided certain incentives are reached. Unfortunately, his plans in Marseille haven’t worked out so far.
The Cote d’Ivoire international is not high on Igor Tudor’s depth chart, as shown by the fact that he has started just four Ligue 1 games this season. His progress with his new team has been hampered by a long red-card ban and injury problems.
Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano (h/t Get Football News France) has corroborated the story from French publication La Provence (translated by Get Football News France) that Marseille will not buy him permanently at the conclusion of the season. It seems that upon his return, the Red Devils will place him on their transfer list.
They paid £36 million to get him from Villarreal in the summer of 2016, but he hasn’t lived up to the hype at Old Trafford. Since January 2021, he has not started for Manchester United in three straight league games.
Eric Bailly Transfer News: Will Olympique de Marseille sign him permanently from Manchester United?
When fit, Erik ten Hag may choose between centre-backs Raphael Varane, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, and Victor Lindelof. On a few occasions, Luke Shaw has filled in for them as well.
Ten Hag will be hoping to have Martinez and Varane fit again for the next season. According to L’Equipe last month (h/t ThePeoplesPerson), Eric Bailly has lost the trust of Marseille manager Igor Tudor.
In other news Joao Felix Transfer News: Is he staying at Chelsea?
The OM boss reportedly had a lot of issues with the Manchester United loanee’s performances in a 3-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on February 26, according to a French media source.
Bailly was supposed to mark PSG’s best player Kylian Mbappe, but he couldn’t hold him back. Before being replaced by Bailly in the 66th minute, the Frenchman scored twice and set up a goal for Lionel Messi. Since then, the 29-year-old has played for a mere 25 minutes in league action.