Eric Bailly swiftly put an embarrassing spell with Turkish Süper Lig club Beşiktaş behind him by moving back to La Liga the day after his release.
The former Manchester United defender made just eight appearances for the Black Eagles after signing in September this year. He was released on Friday having been excluded from the squad alongside four others for poor performance, a move his agent said violated his rights.
Today, Bailly returned to Villarreal on an 18-month contract as a free agent. The Ivory Coast centre-back, 29, played for Villarreal 47 times in 18 months between 2015-16 having signed from Espanyol.
He then joined United for a reported fee of £30m. He was named in the Squad of the Season when the Red Devils won the 2016/17 Europa League, having won the League Cup earlier the same year.
He played most of the game when United lost on penalties to the Yellow Submarine in the 2020/21 Europa League final and was an unused substitute in their 2017/18 FA Cup final defeat.
But the defender failed to make a strong impact at United during his six seasons, playing just 113 times between 2016-2022 as injury blighted much of his time in north-west England.
He was eventually loaned to Marseille and then sold to Beşiktaş in September, and has not been named in the Ivory Coast squad for the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations.
Having finished fifth last season Villarreal are struggling somewhat in 2023/24, sitting 13th after 18 matches. They next travel to Valencia on January 2nd.
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