Eric Baillymade statements to Beşiktaş Club’s YouTube channel.
“I feel good coming here. I came to Beşiktaş and I am in Istanbul” said the Ivory Coast football player, “Now I need to get off to a good start. My passion for football comes from my family. When I was a kid, my father was a true football lover. I grew up watching football players like Didier Drogba, Kolo Toure, Yaya Toure and Didier Zokora. Watching them inspired me to become a professional football player‘ he said.
“HE WANTED TO BRING ME TO GALATASARAY”
Stating that representatives of important clubs such as Espanyol, Barcelona and Roma watched him in a tournament in Burkina Faso and that his football career started with this tournament, the defender said that he talked to Zaha, who he knew went to Galatasaray before coming to Beşiktaş, and continued as follows:
“He also wanted to bring me to Galatasaray. I talked more with Zokora, who worked with Şenol Güneş in Trabzonspor. He told me very nice things about Şenol Güneş. Later, when I talked to Şenol Güneş, I felt confident. That’s why I chose this place. I’ve always heard good things about him. I saw Fred, with whom I played before at Manchester United, went to Fenerbahce, Zaha was also a player I played against. Playing here will be a different experience for me. The league is very important. “I want to move here and win trophies here. That’s how I look at football.”
Wilfried Zaha
“WHY CAN’T BEŞİKTAŞ THE CHAMPION THIS YEAR?”
Noting that he has good communication with his new teammate Masuaku, knows Aboubakar and communicates with other players, Bailly said, “I am the first player to come to Beşiktaş from the Ivory Coast. This is very good. Because I think it will give a good impression about our country. My goal is to create a positive image about our country. We’ll see what happens this year. I chose number 30 because it was the number I chose when I became a professional football player in Espanyol. It has a special memory for me. That’s why I wanted to get this number‘ he said.
Emphasizing that he can bring his experience to Beşiktaş and do important things with his teammates and technical staff, the 29-year-old football player said, “I think good things will happen this year, and I want to present a good mentality. We have the Super League and the UEFA European Conference League ahead of us. All of them are important, we will go out to win every game. When I look at Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş, I see good competition. This season will be important to me. Galatasaray won the league last year, why shouldn’t Beşiktaş be the champion this year? I came here with a winning mentality, I want to be a champion and do more.‘ he said.