Eric Bertrand Bailly (French pronunciation: [eʁik bɛʁ.tʁɑ̃ baji]; born 12 April 1994) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays for La Liga club Villarreal and the Ivory Coast national team.

[4] Bailly was spotted by Espanyol's Emilio Montagut after taking part in a youth tournament in Burkina Faso, organised by Spanish company Promoesport.

On 5 October 2014, Bailly made his first-team – and La Liga – debut, coming on as a late substitute in a 2–0 home win against Real Sociedad.

[8] On 29 January 2015, Bailly signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with fellow La Liga team Villarreal for a €5.7 million fee, mainly as a replacement to Arsenal-bound Gabriel Paulista.

[14] On 8 June 2016, Bailly joined Premier League side Manchester United for a reported fee of £30 million, signing a four-year contract, with the option of an additional two.

[23] On 8 November 2017, Bailly suffered an ankle injury, and he was sidelined for around 100 days and returned to action on 17 February 2018, coming on as a substitute for Romelu Lukaku in the final 90-minute added additional time in a 2–0 win over Huddersfield in the FA Cup.

[42] On 11 December 2023, Beşiktaş announced that Bailly had been excluded from the squad along with Vincent Aboubakar, Valentin Rosier, Rachid Ghezzal and Jean Onana due to poor performance and incompatibility within the team.

He was again named in the Elephants' squad for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon,[48] playing the entirety of all three matches in a campaign which ended in the group stage.

On 12 October 2018, Bailly scored his first international goal in a 4–0 win over the Central African Republic in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Stade Bouaké.

[54] At the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, held at the start of the following year in Cameroon, Bailly suffered a head injury at the end of a 2–2 draw with Sierra Leone in the second game, thereby missing the third against Algeria.

[55] He wore a scrum cap in the goalless last 16 match against Egypt and was the only player to miss in the penalty shootout, with his shot being saved by substitute goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal.