Eric Bailly

Eric Bertrand Bailly (born 12 April 1994) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays for La Liga club Villarreal and the Ivory Coast national team.

Although he mainly plays as a centre-back, he can also play as a right-back.

Bailly began his professional career at Spain's Espanyol, before transferring to Villarreal.

He made his 100th appearance for the club in a 1–1 draw against AC Milan in the Europa League at Old Trafford.

On 26 April 2021, he signed a contract to 2024, with the option of one more year.

On 23 September 2021, Bailly made his first appearance of the campaign in an EFL Cup tie against West Ham United, which Manchester United lost 1–0.

On 24 August 2022, Bailly joined Ligue 1 club Olympique de Marseille on loan for the duration of the 2022–23 season.

He debuted for Marseille as a substitute in a 3–0 win over OGC Nice on 28 August.

Born in Bingerville, Bailly joined Espanyol's youth system in December 2011, aged 17.

Bailly was spotted by Espanyol's Emilio Montagut after taking part in a youth tournament in Burkina Faso, organised by Spanish company Promoesport.

Some records of that time erroneously list his name as Eric Bertrand (his middle name misinterpreted as his paternal surname).

He only received a work permit in October of the following year, and made his senior debut in the 2013–14 campaign with the reserves, in Segunda División B.

On 5 October 2014, Bailly made his first-team – and La Liga – debut, coming on as a late substitute in a 2–0 home win against Real Sociedad.

He was promoted to the main squad shortly after.

He made his international debut for the Ivory Coast in 2015 and helped them win that year's Africa Cup of Nations.

On 29 January 2015, Bailly signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with fellow La Liga team Villarreal for a €5.7 million fee, mainly as a replacement to Arsenal-bound Gabriel Paulista.

He made his debut for the Yellow Submarine on 22 February, starting in a 1–0 home win against Eibar.

On 19 March, Bailly made his UEFA Europa League debut, starting and being sent off in a 2–1 away loss against Sevilla.

On 18 October 2015, Bailly was sent off shortly after the interval in a 2–1 loss to Celta de Vigo at Estadio El Madrigal.

He made seven appearances as the team reached the last four of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League; on 22 October he scored his first career goal and only one for the team, to conclude a 4–0 home group win over Dinamo Minsk.

He spent two seasons at the club, before signing for Manchester United in June 2016.

Bailly made more than 100 appearances for United and had a loan spell at Marseille.

On 8 June 2016, Bailly joined Premier League side Manchester United for a reported fee of £30 million, signing a four-year contract, with the option of an additional two.

He was the first player signed by their new manager José Mourinho.

He made his competitive debut on 7 August in a 2–1 win against Leicester City at Wembley Stadium to win the FA Community Shield, and was named man of the match.

He was again named man of the match on his Premier League debut a week later, a 3–1 win at Bournemouth.

He was voted Manchester United's Player of the Month for August 2016.

He said to MUTV, "The Man-of-the-Match awards are something I hadn’t thought about, but I got them through the hard work I have put in. I hope to see more of that in the weeks ahead of us."

On 23 October 2016, Bailly was substituted off in the 52nd minute after suffering a serious knee injury during the 4–0 loss at Chelsea.

He made 11 appearances as the Red Devils won the Europa League, and was named in the Squad of the Season.

On 19 August 2017, Bailly scored the first league goal of his club career, and his only goal for the club in Manchester United's first in a 4–0 away win over Swansea City, following up after Paul Pogba's header came back off the underside of the crossbar.

On 8 November 2017, Bailly suffered an ankle injury, and he was sidelined for around 100 days and returned to action on 17 February 2018, coming on as a substitute for Romelu Lukaku in the final 90-minute added additional time in a 2–0 win over Huddersfield in the FA Cup.

He went on and made a total of 18 appearances and scored one goal in all competitions at the end of the season.

Bailly's injury problems continued in the 2018–19 season, which caused him to only feature in 18 games in all competitions, with 12 appearances coming in from the Premier League.

He was sent off on 30 December 2018 in a 4–1 home win over AFC Bournemouth for a foul on Ryan Fraser, for which he was criticised by manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær.

In July 2019, Bailly was ruled out for a further four months after suffering a knee injury in a pre-season friendly against Tottenham Hotspur in China.

He played in two further African tournaments and the 2020 Olympics.

On 10 January 2020, he made his return from injury by playing in a game with Manchester United's under-23 team against Newcastle United.

On 17 January 2020, Bailly signed a two-year contract extension with United, tying him to the club until the end of the 2021–22 season.

He made a comeback in the Premier League and played his first match of the season on 17 February, featuring for the whole 90 minutes in a 2–0 win against Chelsea.