Eric Bailly has confirmed he considered joining Manchester City before making the switch to Manchester United.
The Ivorian joined United from Villarreal in 2016 but he has made just 89 appearances in four-and-a-half years.
On his day, Bailly has proven to be a top quality defender, and that clearly was the view of Pep Guardiola, who had just taken the job at City when he was looking for a new centre-back.
However, Bailly says the lure of playing for Jose Mourinho was enough to tempt him to join United over Guardiola's new City project, with the Blues going on to sign John Stones from Everton that summer instead.
"In the summer of 2016 there were many rumours,” Bailly told Mundo Deportivo. “I was in Ivory Coast, in the dining room at home with my mother when the phone rang. It was a Portuguese number; Mourinho. He told me to come with him, that he liked me since he saw me with Espanyol and Villarreal. Manchester City were also interested, but if Mourinho calls you, you can’t say no.
“You can’t say no to Barça either. It just didn’t happen because the interest was not public or so explicit.”
Bailly also explained how Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has the respect of the United squad, after the Norwegian replaced Mourinho in December 2018. The centre-back also revealed what Solskjaer asks of his defenders, whoever is picked to play at the back.
He said: "We have known how to overcome adversity because the dressing room is with Solskjaer. He is a close guy who has a good relationship with everyone and understands the codes of the football player.
“At the back, he [Solskjaer] asks for concentration and more character. There are small mistakes that have been avoided. We need to pay more attention to plays that seem of little danger and that end up costing us too much."
