Privately at least, Manchester United accept they made a mistake giving Eric Bailly a new three-year contract last year when his previous deal ran out this year.
That is according to the Manchester Evening News, who claim Eric Bailly and Phil Jones have outlined their intention to leave the club to team-mates, amid plans within United to invest in a new centre-back.
Bailly has only started five matches this season and he certainly would’ve felt aggrieved recently when he was overlooked by Ralf Rangnick against Liverpool. The interim manager opted for Phil Jones as he selected three centre-backs at Anfield.
Sources told the MEN that Bailly’s new contract renewal was a continuation of Ed Woodward’s contract strategy of tying down peripheral players on longer deals to increase their resale value.
Hopefully the club has moved on from that and learn from their mistakes. All you need to do is look at how many players will be leaving on a free this summer and how many contributions they’ve made in recent years.
On the other hand, Jones has only started two games in the last two years, and to his credit the English defender has remained fit for the majority of the season after recovering from a serious knee injury.
That will bode well for any clubs interested in signing him this summer.
Let us know in the comments who you think United should sign at centre-back this summer?
I think Man-united would be stupid to let them go.