Bailly anakuwa beki ghali zaidi katika historia ya Manchester United tangu ulipofanyika usajili wa Rio Ferdinand
Asif Norat on the arrival of defender Eric Bailly, Jose Mourinho's first signing as Old Trafford boss
By Asif Norat 5 hours ago
Eric Bailly has become Jose Mourinho’s first signing as United boss, snapped up for £30m from Villarreal.
Most United fans will be scratching their heads wondering who the
player is and some will wonder if this was a big call by the Special
One.
First signing of the summer, a defensive option
It’s not a surprise that Manchester United’s
first signing is a centre-back, especially when you look back at the
injuries the side faced last season. United suffered the third most
injuries of all of Premier League sides, with Luke Shaw been out since the middle of September and Phil Jones missing with various injuries for most of the campaign.
The
arrival of Bailly could mean Mourinho is looking to build a side that
will last longer than his contract, as the Portuguese will work on
bringing in more additions with two months left until the new season.
At
Villarreal, Bailly was also used as a full-back and the 22-year-old has
shown how solid and rapid he is for a defender, which makes you believe
he will fit into the Premier League very easily. After a season with Daley Blind
at centre-back a natural defender during the transfer window was
needed, but the Dutchman deserves a lot of credit for his consistency in
a position where many thought he would fail due to his lack of height
and pace.
One of the top young defenders from La Liga
Bailly
was part of a Villarreal squad that was fantastic in La Liga and the
Europa League this season. The side finished in fourth which will result
in Champions League nights returning at Estadio El Madrigal next season
and went on to the semi-final of the Europa League. Marcelino’s men
completed over 15 clean sheets in La Liga, with Bailly playing a big
role at the heart of defence.
A
big positive for the new United manager is that Bailly has already
proved himself in the big games in La Liga, when starting for
Villarreal, the side only lost one out of four matches against the top
three sides. The Ivory Coast defender also earned a Man of the Match
award during 1-0 win against Real Madrid.
With former Villarreal defender Gabriel Paulista leaving the club for Arsenal in 2015, Bailly cost the Yellow Submarine a fee close to €6m. Not to forget he went on to establish a strong partnership with Victor Ruiz, after regular starter Mateo Musacchio suffered a nasty injury which meant he was out for half the season.
During
his first interview at the club, Bailly said: “I hope to put a smile on
the faces of Manchester United fans with my style of play and what I
achieve at the club.” He has nearly all the abilities to thrive in the
Premier League; strong, fast and can play in other positions too. United
have lacked a bit of attacking support from the full-backs this season,
if Bailly is needed at right-back there will definitely be a lot of
chances of him thriving on the counter-attack with his speed and
stamina.
Bailly
is slightly shorter than Smalling but definitely stronger, so he should
meet the requirements of being a tough centre-back to beat in the
Premier League. His performances have been pretty much solid –
completing more tackles compared to Smalling and more blocks than the
whole United squad despite playing only 25 league games this season.
He
stands at 6ft 1in, is a good ball playing defender which makes him the
full package. Bailly can be very aggressive which could lead to a few
silly fouls. But the main task for him will be learning English as soon
as possible, he currently speaks only French so he will definitely
receive some assistance from Morgan Schneiderlin and Anthony Martial to adapt to the English culture
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