Manchester United defender Eric Bailly close to Marseille loan move
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Eric Bailly closes in on Marseille loan as Manchester United defender moves away from Old Trafford to play more regularly after Erik ten Hag’s signing of Lisandro Martinez pushed him further down the pecking order
- Bailly has dropped down the central defensive pecking order at Old Trafford
- Ivorian, 28, featured in just seven United fixtures in all of last season
- Erik ten Hag’s purchase of Martinez from Ajax will further limit his game time
- Bailly has taken the option of signing for French club Marseille on loan
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Manchester United defender Eric Bailly is close to completing a loan move to Marseille as the Ivorian seeks more game time.
The 28-year-old started just three Premier League matches last season as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and then Ralf Rangnick favoured Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof in central defence.
Bailly has played no part in United’s opening two matches of the current season under new manager Erik ten Hag.
Eric Bailly is set to sign for Marseille on loan after falling out of favour at Manchester United
The Ivorian played during United’s pre-season tour but hasn’t been involved in league games
With Lisandro Martinez coming in from Ajax over the summer, Bailly was pushed even further down the pecking order at Old Trafford.
Accordingly, he will move on loan to Ligue 1 club Marseille. United initially wanted to sell Bailly this summer but have now allowed him to leave on a temporary basis.
Bailly has made 113 appearances in total for United since he arrived from Villarreal in a £30million deal just as Jose Mourinho took over in 2016.
A regular in his first season, Bailly gradually fell out of favour amid a series of managerial changes and also suffered injury issues which restricted his game time.
Despite United’s defensive troubles, there seems no way back for Bailly under Erik ten Hag
The summer signing of Lisandro Martinez from Ajax pushed Bailly down the pecking order
Ten Hag has opted for a central defensive pairing of Maguire and Martinez in the opening matches of the season.
However, both of these have ended in defeat for United, who sit second bottom of the Premier League table.
They lost 2-1 at home to Brighton in their season opener before suffering a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Brentford last weekend.
The Reds host Liverpool in their third league fixture on Monday evening.
