[ad_pod ]

According to the Manchester Evening News, Manchester United may be considering allowing Eric Bailly to leave the club in the upcoming January transfer window.

What’s the word?

The centre-back’s last outing for the Red Devils came against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on October 6. After 19 minutes, with United 2-0 down following a shambolic start by the home defence, Bailly was hauled off by Jose Mourinho. The 24-year-old has only appeared on the bench for one Premier League fixture since.

With Victor Lindelof, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones all seemingly preferred to 33-cap Ivory Coast international, his future at the club is looking increasingly bleak, although he may have been handed a lifeline following an injury for the former.

United would still be able to attract a good fee for the defender, whom they signed for £30m in 2016, which may be the driving force behind the decision to offload the out-of-favour star in the winter window. 

Start of the overhaul

Despite his recent struggles, Everton would be wise to seize upon any opportunity to sign the 6’2” man that may arise.

The Toffees have been relatively solid at the back recently, but with Phil Jagielka and the out-on-loan Ashley Williams ageing, and Kurt Zouma only at Goodison Park on a temporary basis, Marco Silva will need to instigate an overhaul of his defensive contingent before long.

Though he is certainly in poor form at present, Bailly has shown his quality before in the Premier League. If Silva could get him back to his best then Bailly would prove an asset for the Merseyside outfit and a shrewd bit of business on their behalf.