It is the summer of 2016 and Eric Bailly’s phone rings while he is on holiday in his native Ivory Coast.
“A Portuguese number,” the defender, 29, explains to The Athletic during a sit down at the Besiktas training ground in Istanbul.
“But I didn’t know anyone in Portugal and I didn’t speak Portuguese. I started to think. There was an old team-mate. I answered the phone.
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“Who is it?
“’It’s Mourinho’, said the voice at the other end. ‘Do you want to play for me at Manchester United?’.
“I felt like I was hallucinating. I thought it was a guy just trying to annoy me, to make a joke. Who believes (Jose) Mourinho is calling them? I said he needed to prove it was him by calling on video. This is what he did. My mother was by my side. It was Mourinho and he said he wanted me to go to Manchester. I did.”
The £30million ($38m by today’s rates) fee seemed fair, especially as Mourinho knew Manchester City were trying to sign Bailly and that Pep Guardiola told fellow Ivorian Yaya Toure to convince him to become a blue. Mourinho, whose sides are built on a solid defence, asked Didier Drogba to have a word with his compatriot. Drogba spoke of how much Mourinho had helped him develop. Bailly opted for a red shirt.
“I signed for the biggest club in the world,” he adds.
It is 15 years since Bailly left the Ivory Coast to follow his dream of becoming a professional footballer.
“The hard bit in my career was before I got to Europe,” he explains. “When I arrived at Espanyol in Barcelona as a child, I had to adapt. A different climate, people, culture, language, a different way of life. I tried to adapt as quickly as I could. I learned Spanish (the language this interview is conducted in).”
Bailly was spotted at a tournament in Burkina Faso aged 15 by Promo Sports and invited by the Spanish agency, which scours West Africa for talent, to play in a trial match. Again he impressed before he was brought to Barcelona for further assessments.
“His talent stood out immediately and he was offered a youth contract by Espanyol,” says Manolo Marquez, now head coach of Indian Super League club Goa but then in charge of Espanyol’s B team. “I had him regularly training with the B team. I would have given him a professional debut much earlier if it wasn’t for an issue with his papers.”
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Because Bailly was new to Spain, he had to wait to receive permission from the government to play in official matches. That process took two years.
Marquez explains just how difficult it was for Bailly when he arrived in Spain. “He left his family for the first time. He didn’t speak any Spanish, but he set about learning it and integrated with the younger players. We knew him as Eric Bertrand. Bailly was from his mother’s side and he chose to use that name later. We played one pre-season game at Palamos and my daughter Carla had her photo taken with him. I told her to keep the photo because he was going to be a famous player one day.”
Though Bailly could only train to play in friendly matches, Marquez was deeply impressed by what he saw.
“Eric was ready to play in my B team full of young professionals at 16,” he recalls. “He was an incredible talent. He was the strongest player I had. He was very aggressive, good in the air and could use both feet. He was fast and hard to get past in one one-on-ones. He got forward to support attacks. At times, he could be too confident in his ability and lose the ball when he was the last man in defence. He did this once for Villarreal and Fernando Torres stole the ball off him and Atletico Madrid won 1-0 (in April 2015).”
The stats are that, at the end of 2014, he only started four first-team games for Espanyol, yet the first was a 1-1 draw against Villarreal, who saw enough in that game — backed up by his performances in subsequent matches — to put in an offer of €5.7m (£4.9m, $6.2m) to replace Arsenal-bound Gabriel Paulista.
Espanyol needed money but, knowing of the growing interest, manager Sergio Gonzalez went to see his club president in January 2015. He’d heard they were considering selling Bailly. Gonzalez knew Espanyol were a selling club, that their excellent youth system — a football factory in a working-class Barcelona barrio — is geared towards pushing players towards the first team to be sold at a profit after showing promise in La Liga.
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Gonzalez told his president Bailly that would be worth €15m within a year. That opinion was subjective; Espanyol’s debts were not. The second club in the city of Barcelona needed to sell a player in the January transfer window and the deal was completed quickly. Bailly had little choice, but was still called a mercenary by some Espanyol fans.
“I was at the Africa Cup of Nations in January and I signed my contract in my hotel to leave Espanyol for Villarreal,” explains Bailly. “I made my debut for Ivory Coast and we won the Africa Cup of Nations, beating Ghana in the final. We had players like Yaya and Kolo Toure, who I was alongside in defence. What a feeling. Then I moved to Villarreal. All in one month.”
Bailly’s progress continued.
“Everything went well there. I went back to Spain and my first away game was at Real Madrid against Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo. We drew 1-1. The next season, we played Liverpool in the semi-final of the Europa League. We won 1-0 at home but lost 3-0 away. I couldn’t play in the game at Anfield as I was injured. But it was all an incredible experience.
“I’d gone from being a reserve player to playing in a European semi-final in no time. I was learning all the time playing under Marcelino. I was playing against Xavi and Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez and Cristiano Ronaldo. It would have been impossible to see that path.”
Villarreal qualified for the Champions League play-offs for the 2016-17 season, conceding only 35 goals in 38 La Liga games, and Bailly was their most in-demand player. That’s when Mourinho called.
“It was all new to me when I arrived in Manchester,” Bailly says. “The constant interest from the media, the paparazzi. There were cameras everywhere when I signed my contract at Old Trafford. I lived in Bowdon by myself at first, then changed to Hale nearby when my family arrived and we needed a bigger house.”
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Things started really well on the pitch.
“People didn’t know me and doubted me, but my first year in Manchester was my best. I played many games, we won three trophies. I was man of the match at Wembley against Leicester City (in the Community Shield) as we won the first trophy. I was so happy. I won the club’s best player in my first month. I was playing with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Wayne Rooney.”
Bailly had no issues with the physical side of the English game. If anything, he was too physical himself — booked and fortunate not to be booked again in the Community Shield for being reckless.
He started 11 of 14 Europa League games in United’s charge to a final in Stockholm, keeping eight clean sheets. Bailly, who was named in UEFA’s Europa League squad of the season, shakes his head when this is mentioned.
“What a shame that I missed the final because of a suspension (after a red card in the 88th minute of the semi-final second leg against Celta Vigo),” he says. He missed the European Super Cup final against Real Madrid for the same reason.
The near opposite happened in the League Cup, in which Bailly, not in the squad for five of the games on the way to Wembley, played 90 minutes alongside Chris Smalling in the 3-2 final win over Southampton.
“Our dressing room was full of strong characters like Ibra and Rooney. Serious, big-name players. Rooney was much quieter than Ibra, more tranquil.”
Bailly didn’t speak English.
“My English was a disaster,” he says. “But I had luck because I was in a dressing room where more Spanish was spoken than English: Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, David de Gea, Marcos Rojo, Sergio Romero, Antonio Valencia. I spoke French to Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial and Morgan Schneiderlin. It was a dressing room with a really good atmosphere. I loved it there. The fans were respectful.”
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Bailly’s first season was the high point, though United only finished sixth. But by triumphing in the Europa League, the team qualified for the Champions League group stage.
“I started the season well,” Bailly says of his eight starts in United’s first 11 league games in 2017-18. He would only start three more across the rest of the Premier League season, but United usually conceded fewer goals with him on the pitch.
“I had some injuries,” he says of an ankle ligament problem, “but I always felt I had the confidence of Mourinho and that I would be selected when I came back from injuries.”
Bailly was still rated. He was out for 16 league games but came back to play against Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City — all wins. He also started the Champions League last-16 second leg against Sevilla in March 2018, a bad home defeat that began the slide towards Mourinho’s exit.
“It was complicated (when Mourinho left) as it can be in football when a manager changes, but it’s also normal. I had a good relationship with (his replacement) Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He wanted me to renew my contract, so I did.”
Bailly started only seven league games in 2018-19 — more injuries — but was in the XI for the home and away games against Paris Saint-Germain, the away win being a high of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. He missed both the games in the next round as United lost twice to Barcelona. Injuries usually stopped him from having the type of run he had enjoyed in the side in his first season and Bailly’s absences infuriated fans, partially because they wanted him playing.
His first league game of the 2019-20 season didn’t come until February 17, 2020, at Stamford Bridge. United’s record there was awful, yet the team won 2-0 and Bailly was one of the best performers as the central player in a three-man defence. After that game, I spoke to him.
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“I took a few minutes to settle when the game started,” he said. “I was nervous after so long away because it was almost a year ago that I was injured against Chelsea, but then things went OK.”
Solskjaer described his performance that night as “extraordinary”. “Absolutely fantastic — heart of a lion,” he added.
The problem was recurrent injuries. Bailly had started only 67 games in three and a half seasons, 37 of those in his first term in England.
“You feel helpless because you can’t change anything when you’re injured,” he says. “You don’t want to feel worthless but that’s exactly what you feel. You want to get back training but at the biggest clubs there’s huge competition.”
While he was injured, United exercised an option to extend his contract until 2024, with the option of a further year.
“I got on with the boys I played with,” explains Bailly. “I saw a lot of Victor Lindelof — he lived one minute from my house and spoke Spanish. Harry Maguire was tranquil. I’m glad he’s playing well now; he’s a strong character and he had a difficult time with the English media.”
Fortunes picked up a touch for Bailly at United in 2020-21. He didn’t play any of the six Champions League group games as United went out without qualifying, but he featured in the Europa League and played 116 of the 120 minutes in the final against his former club, Villarreal. He was brought off as United prepared for a penalty shootout they would lose.
That summer, Bailly represented his country in the Tokyo Olympics, reaching the quarter-finals, where they went out to Spain after extra time. Then big news happened at Old Trafford.
“Cristiano Ronaldo returned, the legend coming back,” says Bailly. “He was the best player in the world for me. Even when he returned, Cristiano contributed a lot to the club and a player like Cristiano deserves to feel important. It’s a shame he left in the circumstances he did.”
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Bailly watched from the sidelines as Solskjaer settled on new signing Raphael Varane and Maguire as his preferred central defenders. He played his last United game on December 30, 2021, under Ralf Rangnick. Injuries and non-selection kept him out of the team for the rest of the season and he was loaned to Marseille for 2022-23. The French club wanted him for their Champions League campaign and he started the first four group games.
“Another big club with passionate fans,” is his verdict. “The city lives its life through the club. We finished third in the league, which wasn’t easy.”
Bailly played only 855 minutes all season across 23 games and he was without a club this season until Besiktas came in for him. He describes Istanbul as “a great city” but, two weeks after our conversation, he was dropped from the first-team squad along with four other players for what Beskitas described as “poor performance” and “incompatibilities within the team”. That came after a 3-1 defeat against city neighbours Fenerbahce, their 15th league game of the season. Bailly had started only four of them, during which he had three different injuries.
“We are shocked and it took us by surprise,” Bailly’s agent, Rafaela Pimenta, said of the action taken against him. “We know Eric has done nothing wrong. The player’s rights are being violated and we will make sure to protect him.”
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The solution? A return to Villarreal on an 18-month contract, a deal completed on 30 December. It offers Bailly his latest fresh start and a chance to rediscover the form that led to him being one of the most coveted defenders in Europe.
(Top photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
