Eric Bailly: Ex-Man Utd defender's 'rights are being violated' at Besiktas, says agent
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Eric Bailly has made eight appearances across all competitions for Beisktas in 2023-24
The agent of former Manchester United defender Eric Bailly says the defender's "rights are being violated" after he was removed from first team duties by his club Besiktas.
Bailly only joined the Turkish Super Lig side from United in September.
He is one of five players dropped from the squad for what the Turkish club describe as "poor performance" and "incompatibilities within the team".
Agent Rafaela Pimenta said: "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"
Bailly spent seven seasons at Old Trafford after joining from Villarreal for £30m in 2016 but a combination of injury and poor performance restricted him to just 113 appearances.
The 29-year-old Ivory Coast centre-back's contract has not been cancelled but he has been removed from the first team and made to train away from the squad for the foreseeable future, along with Vincent Aboubakar, Rachid Ghezzal, Jean Onana and Valentin Rosier.
"Our number one priority is to build a better team - we will fill the holes in our squad during the [winter] break," new Besiktas president Hasan Arat told the AFP news agency.
Besiktas, managed by Riza Calimbay, sit fifth in the Turkish top flight, 14 points behind top two Fenerbahce and Galatasaray after 15 games of the season.