New Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho brought Ivory Coast international Eric Bailly in from Spanish side Villareal in the summer transfer window as they paid a whopping £30 million to secure the centre-back. The 22 year old Bailly became an instant hit with the United faithful as he seemed to adjust to playing in the Premier League without any issues and delivered commanding performances in virtually all of his appearances for the club.

Sadly the centre-back sustained a knee ligament injury in the miserable 4-0 loss to Chelsea back on October 23rd and he has subsequently been absent from the starting XI for 7 matches since then. It is perhaps not a coincidence that United have suffered a severe dip in form since Bailly’s injury as they have lost to Fenerbahce in the Europa League and have drawn 4 of their past 6 League games. The one positive of the Ivorian’s injury has been that Phil Jones has been given several opportunities to play in the first XI and he has come through with flying colours delivering some solid performances after returning from a long injury absence of his own.

The good news for United and Eric Bailly this week is that the player has returned to training after Jose Mourinho said last week that Bailly “will be back before the end of the year, for sure” as reported by ESPNFC. Hopefully United will return to form with the inclusion of Bailly as he was certainly a warrior at the centre of the defense in the games he played in and Jose Mourinho faces a busy December after tonight’s EFL Cup match vs West Ham as the club faces 7 games in the month including Premier League games against rivals Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace, West Bromwich Albion, Sunderland and Middlesbrough.

Although United will be glad to get Bailly back they will not be looking forward to being without him again in January when he is due to play for the Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations on January 14th. Red-Devils fans can only hope that he gets through the tournament without further injury.