Manchester United reluctant to loan Eric Bailly to West Ham United
West Ham United will have to purchase Eric Bailly this summer with Manchester United unwilling to let him leave on loan, according to the Daily Mail.
The Ivorian has been bumped down the pecking order at Old Trafford by the arrival of Lisandro Martinez and he is now hoping to leave the club to get regular playing time.
The Irons are keen to add Bailly to their squad having seen new signing Nayef Aguerd suffer an early injury but the Red Devils do not want to let him go out on loan.
If David Moyes wants to raid his former club, he will have to make a permanent move for the 28-year-old and he wants it done before the trip to Nottingham Forest on Sunday (14 August).
If no new centre-half is signed by then, West Ham could have to field Ben Johnson as a makeshift central defender for a second successive game at the City Ground with Craig Dawson and Angelo Ogbonna also injured and Issa Diop on the verge of his own exit.
Unpredictable
As an out-and-out defender, Bailly is arguably the best of them all at Manchester United right now but he is so unpredictable that Erik Ten Hag seemingly doesn’t want to trust him.
The Ivorian international always has a big mistake in him somewhere and can often find himself out of position at the most critical times and his ball-playing abilities leave a lot to be desired.
Moyes will want his defenders to be confident on the ball and able to be progressive when necessary and Bailly doesn’t seem to be that kind of player.
Dawson is already the head it, kick it kind of player that West Ham need and you can’t have two in the same team in the Premier League nowadays.
His partner has to be someone who can pick a pass or even dribble out of danger when necessary and Bailly would look like Bambi on ice if he tried that so a different target has to be found for the best of everyone.