Unemployed ex-Man Utd star ‘closing in on free transfer return to former club’ just hours after contract terminated

FORMER Manchester United star Eric Bailly is closing in on an instant return to football after having his contract terminated by Besiktas.

The club confirmed today that they had parted ways with Bailly after a brief statement on their X account.

But as per , the defender will not be without a club for long.

He wrote on X that Villarreal have been pursuing Bailly since last week, and have now pounced after he became a free agent.

Villarreal manager Marcelino is said to be a huge fan of the defender.

It's a return to the Yellow Submarine for Bailly who enjoyed an excellent one-year stint there from 2015 to 2016.

His form there persuaded Manchester United to part with £30million to sign him in the summer of 2016.

He won the League Cup and Europa League during his first season at Old Trafford but a number of injury problems hindered his progress in recent years.

He was then shipped out on loan to Ligue 1 side Marseille last season after being deemed surplus to requirements by boss Erik ten Hag.

He still had 12 months remaining on his £80,000-a-week deal when he was made available for transfer by United in the summer.

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Bailly held talks to link up with former team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr but that deal broke down before he headed to Turkey to try to resurrect his career as Besiktas announced his signing on a one-year contract.

Bailly underwent a turbulent period at the Turkish club, with the club exiling him alongside four other players two weeks ago due to "poor performances" and "incompatibility with the team."

He was joined in this exile by  Vincent Aboubakar, Rachid Ghezzal, Jean Onana and Valentin Rosier.

On the players' exile, new Besiktas president Hasan Arat told the AFP news agency: “Our No1 priority is to build a better team - we will fill the holes in our squad during the [winter] break.”

It now seems that Bailly's contract termination is the best fit for all parties, given he already has a club lined up.

His exile from Besiktas caused huge controversy, and his agent Rafaela Pimenta, who also represents Erling Haaland claimed the player's right had been violated.

She said in a statement: "We are shocked and it took us by surprise.

"We are preparing our reaction since we know Eric has done nothing wrong.

"The player's rights are being violated and we will make sure to protect him."