Eric Bailly accuses Man Utd of favouring English players
Karan Tejwani
- 6 Sept 2022 14:55 BST
- 3 min read
Marseille defender Eric Bailly, who is on loan at the club from Manchester United, has said his parent side favoured English players in his time there.
Bailly left Old Trafford on loan this summer having joined in 2016 and been affected by injury issues for the last few years, falling out of favour in the squad.
He played for the club in pre-season, but made a late loan move away to Marseille, who have signed a host of Premier League players in recent times.
Bailly has now spoken out about life at Old Trafford, and said the club needs to stop favouring domestic talent and look at others in the squad.
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"The club should avoid favouring English players and give everyone a chance. Manchester United encourage competition in the dressing room, not just look out for some. I’ve always had the feeling that the national player was prioritized," the Ivorian said, ahead of his team’s Champions League tie against Tottenham.
He continued: "That doesn’t happen at Chelsea or other big Premier League clubs. Some people take it for granted that they are going to start, and that weakens the team. Luckily Erik ten Hag has a lot of character and I hope he can change that dynamic."
It could be believed that Bailly is probably referring to Harry Maguire, who started most games over the last few years, despite the last season being massively underwhelming.
Bailly then spoke about his playing time and how Ten Hag took him on the team’s pre-season tour, with the belief that he’d get more chances.
Eric Bailly missed 103 games through injury, I think it's disingenuous for him to suggest that the only reason he wasn't selected was due to an English bias, especially when he was the right-sided centre-back and replaced by *checks notes* Victor Lindelof
— Casey Evans (@Casey_Evans_) September 6, 2022
"I met Erik ten Hag in the dressing room at the end of last season when he went to sign his contract. I was packing my things because my intention was to leave, but he told me he wanted me to stay because he was going to give minutes to everyone,” he said.
"I agreed to do the summer tour with Manchester United, and he kept his word, but I don’t want to play every now and then. I want to do it every week and feel important. I want to get my confidence back."
Bailly will now spend the rest of the season on loan at Marseille, and the club can make the move permanent should they qualify for next season’s Champions League.
