Eric Bailly must be incredibly frustrated with his first few months at Manchester United.
The £30million summer signing started the season brilliantly until a serious knee ligament injury put him in the treatment room.
In his absence, Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones have actually fared rather well, to the surprise of everyone, including Jose Mourinho.
What the United boss would most like, however, is a long-term return for his Ivorian lynch pin.
Instead, he’s going to be without him again, this time because the centre-back is heading to the African Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast.
It’s not as if Mourinho wasn’t prepared for this. All the same, he’s not happy with Les Elephants for taking the defender away.
“Bailly goes to the national team,” he said, via the Sun.
“He has to be in the national team on the second of January. We asked them for him to be [there] on the third.
“They refused, so he cannot play against West Ham.
“I wish Ivory Coast to be champions because with these kind of decisions it’s because they are controlling every second, so for sure they are going to win the African Cup.”
While it’s far from ideal, United should manage just fine without him, as they’ve won their last five league games on the bounce – though that has partly coincided with his return.
And even if Mourinho doesn’t see it that way, it has to be a positive that even an under-strength Red Devils line-up are on a fine run of form that sees them continue to threaten the top four.
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