Manchester United who recently signed the centre back Eric Bailly from Villareal in June has all the qualities to strengthen the defence of the Reds in the upcoming season according to manager Jose Mourinho.
Bailly is the Portugese coach’s first signing since taking over as manager at Old Trafford. He has previously made 47 appearances for the La Liga side Villareal when they finished fourth in the league and managed to qualify for the Champions League.
Jose Mourinho, the former Chelsea manager who replayed Dutchman Louis van Gaal at Manchester United told the club’s website, “He is a player who we believe has all the attributes. He is very strong physically and very fast.”
“It’s not so easy to find a fast player when you have quite a big body; he’s a heavy guy, a tall boy who’s really fast,” said Mourinho, who was presented at United on Tuesday.
The Ivory Coast international was one of the key players in the Villareal defence which conceded only 35 goals in 38 matches during the 2015-16 season. Mourinho believes that he can adapt to in the right back position or even central defence quite easily.
“He comes from a Spanish culture where the first phases (of play) are important so technically he’s very good,” the 53-year-old added.
“For some periods, he played right-back and, because playing in the right-back position demands more from an attacking point of view, it’s good for a centre-back to play some periods as a right-back.”
“My only question mark at the moment is one I have to help him delete – the question mark of someone who has never played at such a big club with so many responsibilities and so many expectations.
The only question that was a matter of concern for Mourinho was the fact that is Eric would be ready to play at the highest level required by United from the very start.
“So is Eric ready to come here and start performing from day one? I don’t know. It is a question mark but my job is to delete that question mark as soon as possible and give him the stature, brain and personality to play for Manchester United,” he said.
Bailly also has 15 caps for Ivory Coast and was part of their 2015 Africa Cup of Nations-winning squad.