Jose Mourinho kick-started his tenure as Manchester United manager earlier this month with the acquisition of central defender Eric Bailly from Villarreal.
The 22-year old arrives in a deal believed to be in the region of £25m, with the Old Trafford outfit allegedly seeing off interest from Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain to secure his services.
Discussing his first signing for the club, the former Chelsea boss went on to say:
“Eric is a young central defender with great natural talent. He has progressed well to date and has the potential to become one of the best around. We look forward to working with him to help nurture that raw talent and fulfil his potential. Eric is at the right club to continue his development.”
Having stepped up his fitness ahead of pre-season, Bailly cited Mourinho’s presence as key to his decision as he looks to make an immediate impact:
“I want to progress to be the best I can be and I believe working with Jose Mourinho will help me develop in the right way and at the right club. It is a different style to Spanish football. It’s more physical and maybe more direct as well. It’s a style I’ve always liked and it will suit me. I hope I can get used to it and start to enjoy it over the coming months, years and seasons…I think it’s very important that I settle in quickly. I hope that with the coaching staff and the help of my team-mates that this process will be as quick as possible. It’s important to pick up the dynamic and the tempo of the football here as soon as the season starts. And as I say, hopefully with the help of everyone here I can do that quickly.”.
The History
Bailly was snapped up by Espanyol in December 2011 as a 17-year-old after being spotted by scouts whilst playing in a youth tournament in Burkina Faso.
The defender’s time in Spain got off to a slow start, though – he had to wait 10 months before receiving a work permit and made his debut for the club’s B side a further 10 months later. Bailly featured 21 times for the reserves and made just five first-team appearances before joining Villarreal for €5.7m in January last year as a replacement for the out-going Gabriel, who was snapped up by Arsenal.
Bailly featured ten times over the final four months of 2014/15 before turning out on 25 occasions last season as part of a defence that racked up 17 clean sheets. The centre-half had a tendency to incur the wrath of La Liga referees, though, and earned 14 bookings and one red card over those matches.
He also turned out nine times in the Europa League for the Yellow Submarine, scoring once and earning a single caution.
In terms of international experience, Bailly was handed his debut for Ivory Coast during last year’s African Nations Cup and, playing all six matches, helped them clinch the title. He’s now featured a total of 15 times for his country and quickly established himself as a key member of their back-four.
The Prospects
Strong, dynamic and impressive in the air, Bailly is first and foremost a central defender, though, as evidenced on occasion last season, has the versatility to cover in either full-back position when necessary.
Although United ended 2015/16 with the joint-best defensive record after conceding 35 times, the six foot one inch Bailly’s arrival will surely place question marks over the pitch time of Daley Blind, who was mainly utilised as a centre-half alongside Chris Smalling by former manager Louis van Gaal.
Despite also having the likes of Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones and Paddy McNair at his disposal, Mourinho’s decision to immediately address the make-up of his new side’s defence is clearly a sign of intent, with a Smalling-Bailly partnership looking the likeliest outcome for the campaign ahead.
Delving into the 2015/16 data, Bailly is comfortably better than Blind in the air – he won 57% of headers compared to the Dutchman’s 40%. Impressively, he was successful with 44 of his 50 tackles, though trails Smalling when it comes to Clearances, Blocks and Interceptions per appearance. Given that he mustered just four attempts on goal over 2026 minutes for Villarreal last term, it’s fair to day he offered minimal threat in and around the opposition box. Although Smalling failed to find the net in 2015/16, it’s worth noting he managed 18 attempts on goal by comparison.
Bearing in mind that Smalling – who is set to miss Gameweek 1 due to suspension – came in at 6.0 in FPL last term, the same can be expected of Bailly as a result of United’s resilient defensive record in Van Gaal’s final season at the helm. The Red Devils were joint-top with Arsenal for clean sheets accrued in 2015/16, with 18 apiece, and the acquisition of Bailly should certainly strengthen their potential at the back. Nonetheless, his lack of attacking threat and penchant for picking up yellows will surely deter most for now.
It’s worth noting that, if Ivory Coast earn at least a draw against Sierra Leone in September to clinch a spot in the African Cup of Nations tournament, which takes place between January 14 and February 5, Bailly would miss at least four league matches.
Ultimately, our opinion of United’s defence may be determined by Mourinho’s choice of full-backs. There’s no shortage of options available, with Luke Shaw, Rojo, Ashley Young, Matteo Darmian, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Antonio Valencia, Tim Fosu-Mensah and Guillermo Varela all jostling for minutes.
Certainly, if Shaw can prove his fitness in time for the new season, his raids down the left could be worth monitoring, whilst Valencia – who earned three assists and nine bonus points in the final six Gameweeks of 2015/16 – could also benefit if Mourinho entrusts the Ecuadorian with the right-back berth.
The opening fixtures bode well for Mourinho as he looks to get off to a flying start at Old Trafford. With trips to Bournemouth, Hull and Watford allied with home encounters against Southampton and Stoke in the first seven Gameweeks, United have the platform to make an immediate impact as they look to improve upon last term’s fifth-placed finish.
