AS Roma have Manchester United’s Eric Bailly on their agenda for the summer transfer window.
According to Il Romanista, the Giallorossi scouting department have been going through several centre-backs and 10 of them have made it to their chief, Tiago Pinto’s list. One among them is the Red Devils defender.
Bailly arrived at Old Trafford from Villarreal in 2016, when José Mourinho was in charge of the Manchester club. The 27-year-old was the Portuguese tactician’s first signing at United, and he is now one of the targets for Mourinho’s current club, Roma.
The Ivory Coast international has seen his playing time restricted over the past few years. This season, he has made only seven appearances in all competitions.
It’s claimed the player was ‘certainly been offered’ to the Serie A side in January, but Pinto preferred not to make an approach for him, mainly because of financial reasons.
If Mourinho’s side decide to take the United man in the summer, it will be on a loan deal with an option to buy. This will be the only conceivable option on the table.
The Giallorossi are aware that with the Manchester club, ‘everything is less than simple’, after having dealt with them in signing Chris Smalling. Roma took the ex-Fulham man on a loan deal in 2019 and then went on to buy him a year later.