Jamie Redknapp: Eric Bailly will be Manchester United fan favourite
Sunday 14 August 2016 18:23, UK
Jamie Redknapp was very impressed by Eric Bailly's man-of-the-match performance at Bournemouth and believes Manchester United supporters "are going to love him".
The summer signing from Villarreal, who cost a reported £30m, starred as United beat Bournemouth 3-1 at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday in their opening match of the Premier League season.
Redknapp described Bailly as a "midfielder's dream" and praised the defender's tough-tackling style.
"I was so impressed with Bailly," Redknapp said on Super Sunday. "He's a rough diamond.
"We all make mistakes. He's raw, he's quick. I watched his first game against Wigan and he kept diving in and I thought he's got a lot to work on.
"But he's a midfielder's dream because he can also play. He'll pop the ball into midfield at times, he's got great pace, he's uncompromising. Man Utd fans are going to love him.
"He is a very, very good defender. He doesn't mess around - when it's got to go, he'll kick it forward. He is very strong and could be money well spent.
"[He played] Alongside Daley Blind, who I also thought played very well today. Before the game, I thought they'd have problems with the front three of Bournemouth but they didn't really.
"They were composed and I was very impressed with Bailly."
Goals by Juan Mata, Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic secured victory for Jose Mourinho in his first Premier League match in charge of the club, and Redknapp believes the new boss will be extremely satisfied.
"I wouldn't say it was a vintage performance from Manchester United," he added. "But in terms of your first game, your new signing scores, the other new signing gets man of the match... I think Mourinho will be absolutely delighted.
"There was a change second-half, they definitely pressed higher, got after Bournemouth, stopped them playing and the third goal was the icing on the cake.
"[Ibrahimovic] did some great things in the second half. He was so relaxed, floating around, at times.
"They are going to love him there [at Old Trafford]. I still think how much better he'll be when he gets people running off him, people like [Marcus] Rashford, who want to run the other way because he wants to come to the ball a lot.
"In terms of his debut, he will be well satisfied."
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