If Manchester United were serious about acquiring a defender this summer, that need has now become a priority and an urgency for The Red Devils following the latest news.
According to an statement from the club on the official website, centre-back Eric Bailly has been ruled out until Christmas after undergoing knee surgery. The Ivory Coast international picked up the injury during the pre-season friendly against Tottenham last week, and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said the defender could potentially be out until around Christmas.
This is not the first time Bailly deals with knee injuries. He suffered a similar injury in his right knee, and that ailment sidelined for most of the 2018-19 campaign. Right now it seems he won’t be back until 2020 at the earliest, in what has become a devastanting tendency for the Ivorian in recent years.
Solskjaer, speaking after United’s 1-0 win over Kristiansund in Oslo, said: “Eric has had an operation and will be out for four to five months. Hopefully we’ll have him back around Christmas time. It was positive news from the surgeon, he had the operation this morning. He was positive it was all repaired and that he’ll be fine.”
With Bailly’s loss, now Manchester United will rely even more on Victor Lindelof and Chris Smalling as the starting centre-back duo. But expect them to be even more aggressive in the transfer market, where they have been linked with names such as Harry Maguire and Kalidou Koulibaly of late.
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