Manchester United had two stars shining bright in their first Premier League game of the season. Zlatan Ibrahimovic might have gotten the headlines thanks to his goal away from home but the other star was Eric Bailly, the new signing from Villarreal who has been brought in to fix the issue of defending at the club.
The Ivory Coast international moved after just one season at the La Liga side and did impress in what was one of the tightest defences in the Spanish league last season. The 22-year-old Bailly was expected to stay in Spain for another season at least but Jose Mourinho stumped up the cash needed to sign him, £30 million to be exact, and it does seem to be money well spent.
Manchester United do have a history of spending big on players but they might have been a little lucky in signing Bailly this season and here are three reasons why.
Better places clubs wanted to sign Bailly
It was a bit of a surprise seeing that Manchester United signed Bailly, especially when Barcelona were rumoured to be on the lookout for a top central defender. Bailly had already played in La Liga for twp. years, one with Espanyol and last season with Villarreal and it seemed like destiny that Bailly would join the Catalan club this summer.
Moving to Manchester United instead has put him in a club which will have to play their socks off to win anything at all, even with Jose Mourinho being the manager. The club aren’t in the same league as Barcelona are when it comes to being in the race for a league title either. Bailly could have won La Liga this season with Barca but will have to fight with the rest of the United team to maybe break into the top four also.
No Champions League football
This might be the biggest reason to speak about. Manchester United are not in the Champions League, a competition that everyone wants to play in week in and week out. Barcelona and a host of other clubs looking to sign Bailly are in that competition.
Villarreal are also taking part in the Champions League and playing in the Europa League is a bit of a step down for someone looking to accentuate their playing skills and prove to the world that they are one of the best.
Manchester United certainly must have sprinkled some dust on that contract that Bailly was sent, no one would want to give up a chance of playing in the Champions League, especially when a lot of clubs are after your signature.
A new country and a new playing style
Playing in a new country with a new manager and a new club is never going to be easy but Bailly has so far shown that is not going to be a problem for him but a lot of times we have seen players do not want to move to a new country as they are well settled someplace else.
As stated earlier, Barcelona would have been the perfect destination for Bailly, even Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid also. The country, climate, and language was well known to him but moving to England will be a stern test for Bailly.
United certainly did some great business in bringing one of the best rated and youngest centre-backs in the world and they should thank their stars the management was able to clinch the deal without a lot of drama that is associated with big money signings.
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