José Mourinho is on the verge of making his first signing at Old Trafford after the Villarreal defender Eric Bailly underwent a medical at Manchester United.
The clubs have agreed a fee of around £25m plus add-ons for Bailly, who can play across the back four and looks to have the physical prowess to prosper in the Premier League. Mourinho saw his priority as strengthening the defence and Bailly quickly became his primary target, nothwithstanding the overtures to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The United manager has seen enough to believe Bailly can be a long‑term centre-half for United and has seen off a host of interested clubs for the Ivory Coast international.
Leicester City and Arsenal also registered interest in signing Bailly though Manchester City have turned their attentions to Athletic Bilbao and the French defender Aymeric Laporte.
Bailly, 22, joined Villarreal for around £4m in January 2015 as a replacement for Gabriel, who had signed for Arsenal.
He moved to Spain at the age of 17 after being spotted at a youth tournament in Burkina Faso and came through Espanyol’s youth team. He played five times in La Liga for the first team before joining Villarreal but quickly became a regular in the side who finished fourth last season to qualify for the Champions League and also reached the Europa League semi-final. Bailly was in the side who defeated Liverpool in the first leg of the semi-final at El Madrigal.
The defender was also named in the squad for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations as an uncapped player, and made his international debut in a friendly against Nigeria in January 2015. He started all six games in the tournament and they went on to be crowned champions.