And it’s not Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The mercurial Swede keeps the United hierarchy waiting and you would now imagine that bit of business won’t be completed until after Sweden’s participation in Euro 2016 has ended.
But with the hunt for Zlatan’s signature continuing they can announce the capture of Villarreal’s Ivorian Defender Eric Bailly for £30m. The signing of Bailly subject to a work permit ties him to the club for a four year contract
The 22 year old has looked very impressive the season as The Yellow Submarine secured a return back to The Champions League. It’s been quite the rise for Bailly as he was only at Villarreal for 18 months after signing from Espanyol back in January 2015, so instead of playing at El Madrigal he’ll now be playing at Old Trafford
Jose Mourinho has obviously identified the Centre Back area as a problem one. One thing United failed to establish last season was a proper pairing at the heart of defence. All too many times the back line was disrupted by injuries
The aim will now be for Bailly to slot next to Chris Smalling and forge a partnership between the two. Well that’s as it stands who knows how many more defenders Mourinho feels he has to bring in during the close season
The signing of Bailly will no doubt push Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo down the pecking order and it’s going to be hard for players such as Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair to get back near the first team ranks next season
Much was made of the fact that Louis Van Gaal gave opportunities to younger players, sometimes he was forced to due to no other options but in most cases it proved dividends but with Jose Mourinho you get the feeling that won’t be the case
But Bailly himself is only 22 but United have had to spend big to capture him, he now has to show he is worthy of the same price tag as the former Old Trafford great Rio Ferdinand. If Bailly can get near his trophy haul then they would have made a very good signing indeed.