MANCHESTER, July 31: Manchester United defender Eric Bailly will be out until the end of the year after suffering a knee injury, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on Tuesday.
Bailly, 25, hurt his knee in last Thursday’s 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur in the International Champions Cup (ICC) and had successful surgery on Tuesday.
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“He’s had an operation,” said Solskjaer. “He’ll miss the best part of four or five months. Hopefully, we’ll get him back around about Christmas.”
The Ivory Coast international missed United’s 1-0 win over Norwegian club Kristiansund in a friendly on Tuesday. It was the club’s fifth pre-season win in succession.
Juan Mata scored the winner from a stoppage-time penalty to end the Norwegians’ determined resistance as Solskjaer’s son Noah came off the bench for Kristiansund as a late substitute.
United’s next match is against AC Milan on Saturday in the ICC, their last pre-season encounter before facing Chelsea in their Premier League opener on Aug. 11.
