King Eric II.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic may have got the winner against Leicester City in the Community Shield at Wembley, but Man United fans were purring over the performance of another summer recruit. Who needs Paul Pogba, Zlatan or Henrikh Mkhitaryan when you’ve got…Eric Bailly?
That’s right, Jose Mourinho’s least high-profile signing was the star of the show in a 2-1 victory according to supporters who believe they’ve finally found a hardman successor to the likes of Jaap Stam and Nemanja Vidic. BT Sport agreed and named him Man of the Match.
It’s safe to say that Premier League forwards will certainly know they’ve been in a game when encountering the Ivorian powerhouse, who likes to take man, ball and pretty much anything else that stands in his way. It was a tough test against the likes of Musa, Vardy and Mahrez, but the stopper excelled.
As for the Old Trafford faithful, they couldn’t be more happy with their new star…
Shades of Vidic in Eric Bailly today. Absolutely class throughout the whole game.
— Jordan (@FourFourJordan) August 7, 2016
We found Vidic in Bailly. Top lad. Man of the match. #GGMU
— Syed Faiz (@XsyedfaizX) August 7, 2016
Eric Bailly is Vidic with pace
— Colm Shanahan is @cwshanahan on BSky (@CWShanahan) August 7, 2016
Bailly superb so far! Beast in the making. pic.twitter.com/KHEFEOrcRs
— Rahul Singh (@forevruntd) August 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/PeoplesPerson_/status/762326910328303616
https://twitter.com/AmiirIkhwan/status/762325705115906048
Shades of Stam. Eric Bailly
— Robinho (@Just_Robinho) August 7, 2016
I'm more excited about Bailly.
— James Stretford (@Jamesstretford) August 7, 2016
MOTM has to be Bailly. Absolute beast today. Very excited to see more of him this season. – #MUFC pic.twitter.com/ZZmhXlq4NE
— ManUtd (@ManUtdDevilNews) August 7, 2016
Bailly bossed it today.
— Fred The Red (@redfreddevil) August 7, 2016
It seems the pundits agreed…
https://twitter.com/iainmacintosh/status/762319572368228352
He will mess up now I've said this but in every game so far preseason, Bailly looks a quality player.
— Alex Shaw (@AlexShawTel) August 7, 2016
Still raw, but Eric Bailly looks an immense defender. Strong, dominant & hard to beat #MUFC
— Sam Pilger (@sampilger) August 7, 2016