Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gives latest Man United injury update on Eric Bailly
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirms Man United defender Eric Bailly will be sidelined until Christmas
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed that Eric Bailly will miss “four to five months” after the African defender underwent knee surgery.
The Ivory Coast international suffered a serious knee injury during Manchester United’s 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur during their pre-season friendly.
Bailly appeared to go down awkwardly in pursuit of Tottenham striker Son Hueng-min and the centre-half had to be stretchered off the pitch due to the severity of the injury.
The Manchester United star underwent an operation on his knee after he flew back from the club’s pre-season tour of Australia and Japan on crutches last week.
Speaking at his media conference on Friday following Manchester United’s 1-0 victory over Kristiansund in Oslo on Tuesday night, Solskjaer gave an update on Bailly.
“Eric has had an operation and will be out for four to five months,” Solskjaer is quoted as saying by Man United’s website.
“Hopefully we’ll have him back around Christmas time.
“It was positive news from the surgeon. He had the operation this morning [Tuesday] and [the surgeon] was positive that it was all repaired and he’ll be fine.
“That’s good news.”
Bailly’s injury comes at an unfortunate time for the Ivorian defender as he looked to impress Solskjaer ahead of the Norwegian head coach’s first full season in charge.
Manchester United have been linked with a big-money move to sign a new central defender this summer after the Red Devils conceded more goals than champions Manchester City and runners up Liverpool FC combined last season.
Bailly would have been eager to cement a first-team place in pre-season ahead of any potential arrivals.
The 20-time English champions haven’t won the Premier League title since 2013.
