Arsenal are in need of defensive reinforcements in January, after a number of injuries and poor performances at the back, but which players have been linked with a winter transfer to North London?
4Eric Bailly
- Age: 24
- Position: Centre-Back
- Contract until: 2020
- Club: Manchester United
- Estimated transfer value: £27m
Reports in the last month suggested Jose Mourinho was ‘ready to sell’ Eric Bailly, as the former Manchester United manager looked to free up some space for a replacement centre-back. Sky Sports called the centre-back ‘out of favour’ in Manchester, and say defensive reinforcements might be on Arsenal’s radar.
The Telegraph wrote that Mourinho was ‘prepared to cash in’ on Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo to bring in a new defender. However, it was never clear whether Manchester United were in favour of the sale or not, and now we’ll have to wait and see if they’re planning to offload him with a new manager in charge.
If Bailly does leave, the Express write that Arsenal have been touted with a move for him. Unai Emery knows the 24-year-old pretty well from his time in Spain, as the Ivory Coast international played for Espanyol and Villarreal whilst Emery was with Sevilla.
With Villarreal, the defender was massively impressive, and a big part of the La Liga side’s fantastic defensive record in 2015/16. For whatever reason, he’s never quite been able to consistently rediscover that form with United. Still so young for a centre-back, perhaps a move would help him get back to his best.
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