Manchester United will have to make at least one change to their side when they travel to face West Ham at the London Stadium, with Eric Bailly heading off on international duty with the Ivory Coast.
The centre-back played the full 90 minutes in United’s dramatic comeback victory against Middlesbrough but will fly off to join his country’s African Cup of Nations preparations as the Reds face the Hammers on Monday.
The news was confirmed by United boss Jose Mourinho in the post-match press conference following Saturday’s match and if the Ivory Coast go all the way to the final in Gabon in their defence of the trophy, Bailly will miss up to eight matches and be unavailable until mid-February.
However, Mourinho said that he was happy enough with his defensive options – Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones – and also indicated that both Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney could make their returns on Monday:
Bailly is leaving – he goes to the national team. He has to be with them on 2 January. We asked them for him to be on 3 January but they refused, so he cannot play against West Ham.
I know that I lose Bailly for a month and I’m going to have Smalling, Rojo and Jones for, I think, eight matches. So I decided to play Eric [against Middlesbrough] and it was good to have him on the pitch because, one-on-one at the back, he’s the best because he’s very fast.
Rooney has a little chance and Michael has a bigger chance than Rooney. Let’s see how he is tomorrow.
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