Manchester United star Eric Bailly is set to miss key games against Chelsea and Arsenal after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed the defender has been ruled out for up to four weeks, according to the Manchester Evening News.
Bailly was forced off mid-way through the second half while playing for the Ivory Coast’s against Belgium during the international break earlier this month but the issue was initially thought to be nothing more than fatigue.
The 26-year-old completed the full ninety minutes against Japan five days later and was then an unused substitute during Manchester United’s 4-1 victory over Newcastle United at the weekend.
Bailly was checked over by the clubs medical team and was subsequently ruled out of their Champions League group stage opening victory over Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday night.
Speaking after the 2-1 win, Solskjaer confirmed to reporters that Bailly has suffered a muscle injury that will rule him out of action for three to four weeks meaning he may not play again until after the November international break.
Solskjaer said last night, as quoted by the M.E.N:
“Eric has a muscle injury, we think maybe three or four weeks, maybe after the international break he’ll be back.”
Bailly will now miss Saturday’s huge Premier League clash with Chelsea at Old Trafford as well Man Utd’s second Champions League group stage game with RB Leipzig next Wednesday night.
The Ivorian is also set to miss the visit of Arsenal to Old Trafford the following weekend and further matches against Istanbul Basaksehir and Everton before the international break next month. As long as he doesn’t suffer any set-backs during his recovery, Bailly could then return to action for the visit of West Brom on November 21st.
The news will come as a blow to Solskjaer as Harry Maguire was also missing for the win over PSG last night. However, the good news is Axel Tuanzebe made his return from injury in Paris and excelled at the heart of defence.
It was the youngsters first competitive game since December 2019 and he was superb up against the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe so Tuanzebe could be set for a run in the team now that Bailly has been ruled out.
