Jose Mourinho: This Man United signing can emulate Real Madrid star

JOSE MOURINHO is backing new boy Eric Bailly to be as good as Real Madrid star Raphael Varane.

By Pete Oliver                    

BARGAIN BUY: Jose Mourinho reckons Eric Bailly will be a huge player for Manchester United

The £30m buy from Villarreal made his first Manchester United appearance in Saturday’s 2-0 friendly win at Wigan.

Centre back Bailly, 22, barely broke sweat in his 82 minutes on the pitch.

But new United boss Mourinho saw enough to be impressed and has vowed to make the Ivory Coast international the complete defender.

“Of course he is a very young boy coming from a completely different environment, but you could see what he is at this moment,” said Mourinho who took France international Varane from Lens to Madrid as an 18-year-old in 2011 and has also worked with defensive greats like Real’s Sergio Ramos and Chelsea captain John Terry.

“I will give him everything to try to make him better, like I did with other central defenders I’ve had in my hands like, for example, Varane.

“I will try to make him the best I can. He has showed the potential we saw when we decided to buy him.”

Brazilian prospect Andreas Pereira also made it clear he wants a place in United’s midfield next season.

The under-21 international has his work cut out with United top-heavy in that department - even if they offload Bastian Schweinsteiger, Juan Mata and Morgan Schneiderlin.

Mourinho is still edging towards a world record £100m deal for Juventus star Paul Pogba.

But Pereira laid down a marker with an impressive strike into the top corner to add to Will Keane’s first goal of the Mourinho era.

 

The 20-year-old - who made a handful of substitute appearances last season under former boss Louis van Gaal - said: “It wasn’t a bad strike at all.

“It’s very important to get some minutes and show the manager and the team that I can help this season.

“We are very excited. We want to do our best. We want to win titles and win things, so hopefully this season is our season.”

Summer signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan also impressed in the No.10 role on his debut.

Captain Wayne Rooney and England team-mates Chris Smalling and Marcus Rashford will fly out with the rest of United’s squad for their two-match tour of China tomorrow.