Man Utd Handed Huge Injury Boost – Key Man Could Return For Champions League Clash

Manchester United have been handed a huge injury boost with Eric Bailly set to resume first team training and may even feature against Sevilla next week, according to the Mirror.

Bailly has endured a nightmare campaign as an ankle injury that he picked up while away on international duty back in November 2017 resulted in him undergoing surgery.

The Ivory coast international has spent over three months on the sidelines and has been restricted to making just 10 appearances in all competitions so far this season.

However, the 23-year-old has been recovering well in recent weeks and Jose Mourinho suggested earlier this month that Bailly was on course to making a return at the end of February.

It looks like the centre-back is going to meet that target as the Mirror claim that Bailly is now ready to resume full first team training at United’s Carrington training base.

The newspaper says Mourinho is unlikely to risk Bailly against Huddersfield Town in Saturday’s FA Cup fifth round clash but he could recall him for United’s Champions League last-16 first leg with Sevilla next Wednesday.

The news will come as a major boost to United as although the Red Devils have an excellent defensive record this season, there is no doubt Bailly has still been sorely missed.

Chris Smalling and Phil Jones have been the regular starts at the back in recent months and Mourinho has perhaps played more defensively-minded than he may have done had Bailly been available for selection.

We’ll have to wait and see how the Ivorian responds when he resumes full training but Mourinho may not want to throw Bailly back in to action too soon as the last thing they want is him aggravating the injury.

The young defender has played only 48 of a possible 103 games since joining United from Villarreal in 2016 so they have to figure out a way to help him overcome his injury woes if he’s to fulfill his potential.