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Tottenham Hotspur are monitoring Manchester United defender Eric Bailly ahead of a potential summer move, per the Daily Star.

What’s the word?

The Ivory Coast international has been far from ever-present at Old Trafford this season, playing just 18 times in all competitions.

He completed the 90 minutes in the Premier League just five times and the aforementioned report claims that he is now keen to leave the club.

Spurs are said to have targeted the centre-back as a potential acquisition this summer, while Arsenal are also credited with an interest.

United, of course, have been credited with an interest in Spurs centre-back Toby Alderweireld, who, per the report, has a £25million release clause in his contract this summer.

And Bailly could potentially be used as bait as United attempt to strike a cheaper deal.

The wrong man as a replacement

Bailly is completely the wrong type of defender to replace Alderweireld.

He does not offer the same ability to spray the ball around the place as the Belgium international nor does he have the same precision in the tackle, or the leadership and composure offered by “Toby”, as he is affectionally known by fans.

The ideal scenario for Spurs, of course, is that Alderweireld eventually decides to stay put and sign a new contract.

But with that appearing ever more unlikely, a replacement will need to be found; Spurs would be better off banking the £25m though and putting it toward that replacement as opposed to accepting a swap deal from United.

At the end of the day, Bailly just isn’t in Alderweireld’s league.