Manchester United defender Eric Bailly is reportedly on the radars of fellow Premier League club West Ham United this summer.
According to ESPN, West Ham United are monitoring the situation of Manchester United and Ivory Coast centre-back Eric Bailly in the ongoing transfer window.
Bailly has been at Manchester United for six years now, having arrived from Villarreal in 2016, becoming the first signing of the Jose Mourinho era. While he showed promise in the early parts of his stint at Old Trafford, injuries and a sense of recklessness in his performances meant that the Ivorian could never establish himself as a permanent fixture in the side.
Bailly has struggled for regular game-time in recent years at Manchester United, playing just eight times across all competitions in the last season. With the arrival of Lisandro Martinez in the summer, he has essentially become the fifth-choice centre-back for Erik ten Hag behind captain Harry Maguire, Martinez, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof.
Bailly is one among several players who have been told that he can leave the club this summer, with the defender not being part of the matchday squad for Manchester United’s Premier League opener against Brighton & Hove Albion this past weekend. Everton had shown interest initially but are unlikely to pursue him after signing James Tarkowski and Conor Coady.
La Liga side Sevilla are keen on signing Bailly, while there is also interest from French club AS Monaco. Now, West Ham United have also joined the race for the 28-year-old defender as they look for reinforcements at the back after an injury crisis early in the new season.
Indeed, West Ham United went into their season opener against Manchester City with only Kurt Zouma as their fit senior centre-back. New signing Nayef Aguerd is sidelined with an injury along with Craig Dawson, while veteran star Angelo Ogbonna is yet to recover from his long-term knee injury.
With Issa Diop on his way out of the London Stadium this summer, West Ham United need to sign a new defender and have identified Bailly as a potential option, among several others. At this point, David Moyes’ side are just monitoring the Manchester United man, who only seems to be a secondary target behind someone like PSG star Thilo Kehrer, for whom the Hammers have already launched a bid.
It will be interesting to see if West Ham act on their interest in Bailly or are successful in their pursuit of Kehrer, which could lead them to end their search for another centre-half.
