Jose Mourinho's first summer as Manchester United boss will largely be remembered for the signings of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, however, his very first signing was actually Eric Bailly.

The former Villarreal ace has quietly gone about his business during his first season in the Premier League and adapted particularly well to his new surroundings.

Which is fortunate, because he heads into tonight's Manchester derby as the Red Devils' only recognised centre-back.

And in an interview with The Mirror, Bailly has revealed how close he actually came to moving to the blue side of Manchester.

City were among the first clubs to make contact with the Ivory Coast international and he had been set on moving there until Jose Mourinho phoned him up - not that he believed it was actually the Portuguese manager, though.

“I was in the Ivory Coast, I got called from a ­Portuguese number, he ­introduced himself but I just didn’t ­believe it at first,” Bailly said.

“Before I came to Man United, it was City who had been watching me. In my mind, I was going there. But then everything changed.

"It felt like Mourinho was the one who really wanted me. He showed more interest, he rang me and that’s why I’m at Man United.

"Man City contacted my agent, Barcelona as well were talking to my agent, but they weren’t as interested in me as Mourinho. He really pushed for the move.

“Of course the club is ­important when you sign, but the manager is so important. If a player feels like the manager wants you, wants to sign you, it gives you extra motivation.”

Mourinho's reputation for working with defenders also worked in Man United's favour too. Bailly cited the example of Raphael Varane as another reason he was excited to link up with the former Real Madrid boss.

He added: “I’ve always thought Mourinho was good coaching defenders,” he said. “I used to watch ­Raphael Varane, saw the ­progression he made under Mourinho [at Real Madrid] and knew he could help me as a player."

Not every foreign player makes such a seamless transition to the Premier League. Even the ex-United hero Bailly has been compared to, Nemanja Vidic, struggled early on.

And Bailly has admitted he felt nervous how his first season in English football would fare but United's senior stars helped him fit in straight away.

"I had some ­apprehension ­before I came to England but some of the more experienced players really helped me," Bailly continued.

"Players like Michael Carrick are always talking to younger players, Chris Smalling has big experience and Antonio Valencia really helped me. Wayne Rooney has been great.”

Phil Jones and Smalling have been unable to recover from injury in time so Daley Blind is likely to deputise alongside Bailly at the Etihad in Thursday's vital clash.