Marseille are currently unlikely to make a permanent move for Manchester United defender Eric Bailly, whose injury issues have limited his gametime at the club.
The centre-back joined the French side on loan in the summer when it was made clear he was not a part or Erik ten Hag’s plans for this season.
The hope had been that he would be a regular for Igor Tudor’s side and find some sort of rhythm, which had been sorely absent during his time at Old Trafford.
That’s not proven to be the case, though, with L’Equipe explaining today that he has managed just 625 minutes of action so far, the equivalent of seven full games.
That’s a ‘pittance’ for a player who was supposed to be a key man for Marseille this season. Instead, Tudor, his coach, is ‘beginning to get used’ to managing without him.
That’s because Bailly has spent more time on the pitches at the training centre or in the gym with the doctors this season than on the pitch in Ligue 1.
L’Equipe say the ‘fault lies with injuries’ as well as several relapses in a ‘very fragile right thigh’, two issues which have seen Bailly ‘saddled’ with a reputation for being unreliable physically and ‘misery’ on the sidelines.
He now has less than half a season to convince Marseille into a permanent move, with it ‘illusory at the moment’ that they would pay the €7m clause to sign him permanently from Manchester United.
Several reports have made it clear that the purchase clause is an obligatory one based on certain conditions being met but L’Equipe present it as more of a choice here.
Our assumption is that the conditions were likely related to games played and Bailly is nowhere near hitting that mark nor is he likely to if his injury issues continue.
There’s also likely a belief that even if he is fit Marseille won’t use him because they cannot rely on him and thus wouldn’t want to pay €7m for a player who they know has injury issues.
It’s all a bit of a mess but at the moment it seems a return to Manchester United is likelier than a long-term stay in Marseille.
