Eric Bailly has aimed a thinly-veiled dig at Harry Maguire by making a plea to start Manchester United 's clash with Arsenal this weekend.
The defender has played just seven games this season and has been all but shunned by interim boss Ralf Rangnick. The Ivorian only signed a new contract in April 2021, with two more years still to run on that deal.
In fact, Bailly's last appearance for United was at the end of December in the win over Burnley, with the defender only able to earn a place on the bench at best since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Instead, Raphael Varane, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and even Phil Jones have been preferred by Rangnick. It marks a stunning fall from grace for Bailly, whose career at Old Trafford now looks to be coming to an end.
But with Maguire struggling badly for form, Bailly has aimed a thinly-veiled dig at his captain in making his feelings about team selection known. United posted pictures of a training session on Friday, with Bailly making it clear who he believes Rangnick should start against the Gunners.
One fan had responded to the training ground pictures with the comment "start bailly x Varane". Bailly was delighted to see that support and replied by writing "please!" along with the laughing emoji and a pair of praying hands.
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Bailly's request to start is unlikely to be honoured by Rangnick, though, who made it clear how far Bailly was down his pecking order at Liverpool. The German started with a back five at Anfield, but even so the Ivorian was left on the bench.
And with Varane now fit again, the Frenchman should come straight into the line-up following the humiliation at the hands of Liverpool. However, someone who will be dropping out of the team is Maguire.
According to The Athletic, Rangnick has opted to drop his captain from the starting line-up on compassionate grounds after the defender received a bomb threat. He had experienced a difficult night at Liverpool, with United's hopes of finishing in the top four fading by the game.
And Rangnick has called on his side to step up their performance levels in order to bounce back from the embarrassment they experienced on Merseyside. The German highlighted the importance of the visit of Arsenal to the Red Devils' season.
"I don't think it makes sense to speculate about how likely it still is that we can finish fourth or wherever. It doesn't make sense after a performance like that at Liverpool. We just need to make sure that we play far better. This is the only way to deal with it," Rangnick said.
"We need to get the best possible team on the pitch and then play in a different way with more conviction, with more confidence, with more aggressive behaviour on the pitch. I mean the way that we played at Liverpool, especially in the first half, it will be difficult to get something out of the game at Arsenal. But we will have to change and show a completely different performance."
