.jpg) Bailly playing forBeşiktaş in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Eric Bertrand Bailly[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1994-04-12)12 April 1994 (age 31)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bingerville, Ivory Coast | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Oviedo | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2013 | Espanyol | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Espanyol B | 21 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Espanyol | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Villarreal | 35 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2023 | Manchester United | 70 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | →Marseille (loan) | 17 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Beşiktaş | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023–2025 | Villarreal | 22 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Oviedo | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Ivory Coast Olympic | 4 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015– | Ivory Coast | 50 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:40, 4 October 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:12, 15 October 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Eric Bertrand Bailly (French pronunciation:[eʁikbɛʁ.tʁɑ̃baji]; born 12 April 1994) is an Ivorian professionalfootballer who plays forLa Liga clubReal Oviedo and theIvory Coast national team. Although he mainly plays as acentre-back, he can also play as aright-back.[3]
Bailly began his professional career at Spain'sEspanyol, before transferring toVillarreal. He spent two seasons at the club, before signing forManchester United in June 2016. Bailly made more than 100 appearances for United and had a loan spell atMarseille.
He made his international debut for the Ivory Coast in 2015 and helped them winthat year'sAfrica Cup of Nations. He played in two further African tournaments and the2020 Olympics.
Born inBingerville, Bailly joinedEspanyol's youth system in December 2011, aged 17.[4][5] Bailly was spotted by Espanyol's Emilio Montagut after taking part in a youth tournament inBurkina Faso, organised by Spanish company Promoesport.[6] Some records of that time erroneously list his name as Eric Bertrand (hismiddle name misinterpreted as hispaternal surname). He only received a work permit in October of the following year,[7] and made his senior debut in the2013–14 campaign withthe reserves, inSegunda División B.
On 5 October 2014, Bailly made his first-team – andLa Liga – debut, coming on as a latesubstitute in a 2–0 home win againstReal Sociedad.[8] He was promoted to the main squad shortly after.[9]
On 29 January 2015, Bailly signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with fellow La Liga teamVillarreal for a€5.7 million fee, mainly as a replacement toArsenal-boundGabriel Paulista.[10][11] He made his debut for the Yellow Submarine on 22 February, starting in a 1–0 home win againstEibar.[12]
On 19 March, Bailly made hisUEFA Europa League debut, starting and beingsent off in a 2–1 away loss againstSevilla[13]
On 18 October 2015, Bailly was sent off shortly after the interval in a 2–1 loss toCelta Vigo at theEstadio El Madrigal.[14] He made seven appearances as the team reached the last four of the2015–16 UEFA Europa League; on 22 October he scored his first career goal and only one for the team, to conclude a 4–0 home group win overDinamo Minsk.[15]
On 8 June 2016, Bailly joinedPremier League sideManchester United for a reported fee of £30 million,[16][17] signing a four-year contract, with the option of an additional two. He was the first player signed by their new managerJosé Mourinho.[18][19][20]
He made his competitive debut on 7 August in a 2–1 win againstLeicester City atWembley to win theFA Community Shield, and was namedman of the match.[21] He was again named man of the match on his Premier League debut a week later, a 3–1 win atBournemouth.[22]
He was votedManchester United's Player of the Month for August 2016. He said to MUTV: "The Man-of-the-Match awards are something I hadn’t thought about, but I got them through the hard work I have put in. I hope to see more of that in the weeks ahead of us."[23] On 23 October 2016, Bailly was substituted off in the 52nd minute after suffering a serious knee injury during the 4–0 loss atChelsea.[24] He made 11 appearances as the Red Devilswon the Europa League, and was named in the Squad of the Season.[25]
On 19 August 2017, Bailly scored the first league goal of his club career, and his only goal for the club in Manchester United's first in a 4–0 away win overSwansea City, following up afterPaul Pogba's header came back off the underside of the crossbar.[26]
On 8 November 2017, Bailly suffered an ankle injury, and he was sidelined for around 100 days and returned to action on 17 February 2018, coming on as a substitute forRomelu Lukaku in the final 90-minute added additional time in a 2–0 win over Huddersfield in the FA Cup.[27][28] He went on and made a total of 18 appearances and scored one goal in all competitions at the end of the season.
Bailly's injury problems continued in the 2018–19 season, which caused him to only feature in 18 games in all competitions, with 12 appearances coming in from the Premier League. He was sent off on 30 December 2018 in a 4–1 home win overAFC Bournemouth for a foul onRyan Fraser, for which he was criticised by managerOle Gunnar Solskjær.[29]
In July 2019, Bailly was ruled out for a further four months after suffering a knee injury in a pre-season friendly againstTottenham Hotspur in China.[30] On 10 January 2020, he made his return from injury by playing in a game with Manchester United's under-23 team against Newcastle United.[31] On 17 January 2020, Bailly signed a two-year contract extension with United, tying him to the club until the end of the 2021–22 season.[32] He made a comeback in the Premier League and played his first match of the season on 17 February, featuring for the whole 90 minutes in a 2–0 win against Chelsea.[33][34][35]
He made his 100th appearance for the club in a 1–1 draw againstAC Milan in theEuropa League atOld Trafford.[36] On 26 April 2021, he signed a contract to 2024, with the option of one more year.[37]
On 23 September 2021, Bailly made his first appearance of the campaign in anEFL Cup tie againstWest Ham United, which Manchester United lost 1–0.[38]
On 24 August 2022, Bailly joinedLigue 1 clubMarseille on loan for the duration of the2022–23 season.[39] He debuted for Marseille as a substitute in a 3–0 win overNice on 28 August.[40]
On 7 January 2023, in aCoupe de France match againstHyères, Bailly was sent off for a dangerous high challenge that hospitalised Moussa N'Diaye.[41] On 19 January, Bailly was issued a seven-match suspension by theFrench Football Federation.[42]
Bailly ended his spell at Marseille having made 17 appearances during the2022–23 Ligue 1 season, including five starts.[43]
On 4 September 2023,Süper Lig clubBeşiktaş announced the signing of Bailly,[44][45][46] on a reported one-year contract.[47]
On 11 December 2023, Beşiktaş announced that Bailly had been excluded from the squad along withVincent Aboubakar,Valentin Rosier,Rachid Ghezzal andJean Onana due to poor performance and incompatibility within the team.[48] On 29 December 2023, it was announced that Bailly's contract had been terminated.[49]
On 30 December 2023, Bailly returned toVillarreal, signing a contract until 30 June 2025.[50][51]
On 18 August 2025, Bailly signed a two-year deal withReal Oviedo also in the Spanish top tier.[52]
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On 29 December 2014, Bailly was included inHervé Renard's 23-man squad for the2015 Africa Cup of Nations.[53] He made his debut on 11 January 2015, in afriendly againstNigeria,[54] and appeared in all six matches during the competition as his side were crowned champions. He was again named in the Elephants' squad for the2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon,[55] playing the entirety of all three matches in a campaign which ended in the group stage.
On 12 October 2018, Bailly scored his first international goal in a 4–0 win over theCentral African Republic in a2019 Africa Cup of Nationsqualifier at theStade Bouaké.[56] The following April he suffered a knee injury, ruling him out of the finals in Egypt.[57]
On 3 July 2021, Bailly was selected as one of the designated overaged players in theIvory Coast Olympic team for the2020 Summer Olympics.[58][59] Bailly made his Olympics debut in a 2–1 win againstSaudi Arabia on 22 July.[60] He made four appearances in the tournament and scored one goal, in a quarter-final defeat againstSpain.[61]
At the2021 Africa Cup of Nations, held at the start of the following year in Cameroon, Bailly suffered a head injury at the end of a 2–2 draw withSierra Leone in the second game, thereby missing the third againstAlgeria.[62] He wore ascrum cap in the goalless last 16 match againstEgypt and was the only player to miss in the penalty shootout, with his shot being saved by substitute goalkeeperMohamed Abou Gabal.[63]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Espanyol B | 2013–14 | Segunda División B | 20 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 20 | 0 | ||||
| 2014–15 | Segunda División B | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | ||
| Espanyol | 2014–15 | La Liga | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| Villarreal | 2014–15 | La Liga | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2[c] | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | La Liga | 25 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 7[c] | 1 | — | 35 | 1 | |||
| Total | 35 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 1 | ||
| Manchester United | 2016–17 | Premier League | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11[c] | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 38 | 0 |
| 2017–18 | Premier League | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[e] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 | |
| 2018–19 | Premier League | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[e] | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20 | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[c] | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | Premier League | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5[c] | 0 | — | 21 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[e] | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| Total | 70 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 113 | 1 | ||
| Marseille (loan) | 2022–23 | Ligue 1 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 5[e] | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | ||
| Beşiktaş | 2023–24 | Süper Lig | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[f] | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | ||
| Villarreal | 2023–24 | La Liga | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 2[c] | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | ||
| 2024–25 | La Liga | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | ||
| Oviedo | 2025–26 | La Liga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 177 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 48 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 244 | 2 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ivory Coast | 2015 | 12 | 0 |
| 2016 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 50 | 2 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 October 2018 | Stade Bouaké, Bouaké, Ivory Coast | 32 |  Central African Republic | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 2 | 23 March 2019 | Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Ivory Coast | 34 |  Rwanda | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
Manchester United
Ivory Coast
Individual
Ivory Coast squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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