Eric Bailly reportedly fears for his future following Manchester United's interest in Harry Maguire. United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made the Leicester star his top transfer target this summer as he looks to shore up the leaky defense at Old Trafford. The club plans to return to the Foxes with a better offer of around £80million as they try to finalize the deal.
But according to Metro, Bailly has been worrying of his future in the club it they successfully acquire Maguire. The report claims that the Ivory Coast international fears he would fall short of the requirements once Maguire is onboard, which would swell the number of center-backs in the squad to seven.
In Thursday's friendly victory over Tottenham in Shanghai, Bailly was visibly upset as he was carried off the pitch after twisting his knee in an attempt to stop Son Heung-min's tricky run. The 25-year-old was on the pitch for a matter of minutes, having only just come on as a half-time substitute.
Thursday's injury is the latest bad luck for Bailly, whose persistent knee and ankle problems affected his number of appearances last season. And he has only just returned to action, having been ruled out of Ivory Coast's Africa Cup of Nations squad with a knee injury suffered against Chelsea in April.
Solskjaer is building a group that has the capacity to challenge the bests clubs in the Premier League that will also cope with the extreme demands of Europa League football. But one thing he hasn't addressed is how Maguire would fit, given there will be too many players in the same position once he arrives. This is why Bailly's fears are warranted.
The belief is that the England star would partner Victor Lindelof as the first choice pairing next season, with Chris Smalling the other viewed as a serious option. And with Axel Tuanzebe earmarked for a role during the current campaign, it then leaves Bailly in the mix with Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo making up the numbers.
Jones is already under threat, having been offered as a makeweight in a bid to sign Issa Diop from West Ham earlier this summer. But that doesn't make Bailly any less worried.
Bailly's teammate Lindelof, on the other hand, is positively enthusiastic of Maguire's arrival and said he welcomes the potential challenge of potentially fighting for the same position.
