Eric Bailly is a professional soccer player for the Ivory Coast National Team and Villareal. He formerly played for Manchester United of the English Premier League. Bailly is a centre back and joined Manchester United from Villarreal ahead of the 2016-2017 season and quickly made a name for himself at Old Trafford, appearing in 38 games across all competitions. On August 19, 2017, Bailly scored the first league goal of his club career in a 4–0 win over Swansea City. Bailly made his competitive debut on August 7, 2016, in a 2–1 win against Leicester City at Wembley Stadium to win the FA Community Shield and was named man of the match. He was later voted Manchester United’s Player of the Month for August 2016. The defender’s breakout came during the 2015 African Cup of Nations, in which he netted a spot-kick in the final penalty shoot-out as Ivory Coast beat Ghana to claim their second title. Before signing with Manchester United, Bailly spent one season with Villarreal, where he made his UEFA Europa League debut in March 2015. Bailly’s journey to stardom started when he was signed by the Catalan club in December 2011 and joined their youth system at age 17. He later became a regular for the Espanyol B team and went on to become a regular on Espanyol’s first team
