Manchester United have made the same mistake again with Eric Bailly and two other defenders

When Manchester United announced that Eric Bailly had put pen to paper on a new long-term contract in April last year, it is fair to say that eyebrows were raised.

The centre-back, who joined United from Spanish outfit Villarreal back in June 2016, had played just 15 times in the 2020/21 prior to signing his new deal and had made just 100 appearances in five years. Injuries had hampered his chances of making progress and United's decision to offer him a new deal until the summer of 2024 seemed odd.

Since signing that contract more than a year ago, Bailly has made just 13 appearances in United colours. It makes United's decision to offer him a long-term deal all the more baffling.

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United knew they needed to add a world-class centre-back to their ranks last summer, and did exactly that in August, landing Raphael Varane from Real Madrid. That instantly pushed Bailly even further down the pecking order, leaving Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire and Varane ahead of him.

Bailly, largely because of injury troubles, has not made anywhere near as much progress in his career as he would have hoped for when joining United six years ago. He has made a total of 113 appearances and played just seven times last season, the last appearance of which came in United's final game of 2021. He's not yet kicked a ball in first-team football in 2022.

It is a sorry state of affairs and United ought to be kicking themselves for rewarding a player who has regularly struggled for consistency. He has played just 40 times for the club in the last three seasons combined.

Although United's track record of selling players isn't one to be used as a case study