Newcastle United have the chance to sign Eric Bailly from Manchester United.
That’s according to the Mirror, who claim the Red Devils have offered the defender to Eddie Howe’s side.
The 28-year-old looks likely to leave Old Trafford this summer, with new boss Erik ten Hag reportedly keen to move Bailly on. He’s got interest from France, with Marseille and Lyon keen.
But what a move to the North East?
Eric Bailly available for bargain fee
If Newcastle do decide to take up Man United’s offer and move for Bailly, they can reportedly land him for a relatively cheap fee.
The Mirror state that he could be sold for as little as £8.5million. However, they add that Man United ideally want closer to £20million.
To sign Bailly for less than £10million would be quite the bargain. It would represent a serious loss for Man United, who paid £30million for him in 2016.
The Ivory Coast international would be a lot cheaper than Sven Botman, who Newcastle are currently trying to sign. It had been reported that the Magpies had agreed a £30million fee with Lille, only for the French side to increase their asking price.
The saga is rumbling on, as Newcastle and AC Milan compete to sign the talented 22-year-old.
Eddie Howe wants to sign a defender, but Bailly isn’t what we need
It’s clear that Howe wants to bring in a new centre-back this summer. We’ve also been linked with Nathan Ake and Lloyd Kelly.
Those two and Botman all have one thing in common – they play as left-sided centre-backs. In contrast, Bailly is right-footed. He doesn’t fit the bill for what we’re looking for.
He’s certainly a talented defender and looked like a great signing when Jose Mourinho brought him to Old Trafford six years ago.
But he’s suffered with injuries throughout his Premier League career. He’s never played more than 25 league games in a season, which was his first year in England.
Bailly made seven appearances in total last season, including one in the Champions League against Atalanta. He was lauded for his performance by teammate Luke Shaw, who described him as ‘unbelievable‘.
While he was great on that night, showings like that are few and far between in recent years.
His injury record and unsuitability to what Howe wants means Newcastle should look elsewhere.