BAILLY’S GOT BIG BOOTS TO FILL
United defender wants lead role
ERIC BAILLY is a man on a mission to fill the defensive void left by Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic at Manchester United.
Bailly had an impressive first season at Old Trafford after joining from Villarreal for £30m.
The Ivory Coast international made 38 appearances and helped United win the League Cup, despite missing six weeks of the campaign with a knee problem.
Bailly would have also started in the Europa League Final win over Ajax if he hadn’t been suspended.
United have struggled to replace Ferdinand and Vidic since the duo left in 2014 before retiring soon after.
Greatest
But boss Jose Mourinho reckons Bailly is the man to do it.
And the 23-year-old believes that he is capable of emulating two of United’s greatest-ever defenders and go on to be ranked alongside them.
He said: “I cannot do exactly the same as they did but I have to try to follow in their steps.
“It is very difficult but everything is achieved with hard work and I hope that happens in my case.”
Mourinho has had a penchant for warrior-like centre-backs at his previous clubs, including John Terry, Marco Materazzi and Sergio Ramos, who ® was Bailly’s hero growing up. United fans reckon Bailly is from the same mould and he said: “They are big players you have to have a lot of respect for.
“You always have to have an example like them to try to be like.
“Once I started growing up and seeing professional football was a step closer, I would look at Sergio Ramos. I always looked up to Ramos as an example.”
Bailly comes from a humble upbringing in the southern city of Abidjan, where, among other jobs, he repaired phone boxes as a child to earn some much-needed cash.
He admits he was shocked to learn that United were willing to spend so much money on him.
“As a child I started working,” he said. “I had a programme after training in the afternoon in which I would go in front of my house to do various things.
“The phone boxes was something I did to earn some money. I couldn’t always rely on my parents.
“My dream was, like all the other kids, to get to the best possible level, which means professional football.
“I found out when I was in the Ivory Coast about the move to United and I didn’t believe it was true. I thought it was a dream.
“I am thankful for everything that has happened.”