Eric Bailly 'Ready to Quit' Manchester United Amid Arsenal, Tottenham Rumours

Manchester United defender Eric Bailly is reportedly "ready to quit" the club in January after falling down Jose Mourinho's pecking order, and Premier League rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are said to be interested. 

The Mirror's John Cross reported Bailly could look for the exit after he was dropped for the recent defeat to Spurs and only featured as a late substitute in United's last two league games against Burnley and Watford.

Mourinho has demoted the Ivory Coast international after he gave away the penalty for Pascal Gross to convert Brighton & Hove Albion's third in a 3-2 defeat to the Seagulls in August.

Bailly, 24, arrived at the club in 2016 (Mourinho's first summer in charge of United) and experienced a downturn in form last season after beginning his stay with the Red Devils in promising fashion.

As disappointing as the August loss at Brighton was, it perhaps didn't compare with the following 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham, and Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News argued that was one of several bad decisions:

Arsenal were active in improving their defence over the summer and signed Sokratis Papastathopoulos, 30, from Borussia Dortmund. Spurs, meanwhile, became the first Premier League team not to complete a signing since the summer transfer window was introduced.

But Cross wrote that Tottenham chief Pochettino fancies former Villarreal defender Bailly, as he's familiar with the player from his time in Spain. Bailly first joined Espanyol's academy in the summer of 2011, just prior to Pochettino's last season managing the team, but it's possible he's kept an eye on him since then.

Spurs have arguably one of the best selections of centre-backs in Europe with Belgian duo Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld joined by Colombia's Davinson Sanchez, who has been a hit since his arrival last summer.

There were some concerns over whether Greece international Sokratis would have the necessary legs to impress for Arsenal, but ESPN FC's Mattias Karen believes he has erased any doubts:

Given he's still so young and cost the club £30 million—not to mention the fact Mourinho and United likely do not wish to sell to a direct rival—a Bailly departure this winter seems unlikely.

Arsenal and Spurs are the two teams linked most closely with a move should reports of Bailly's intentions to leave prove genuine, and Mourinho's use of the player in the months to come will signal any desire to keep him.