Manchester United are going to miss an Eric Bailly for the much-awaited clash against Liverpool on the 14th of January. The 22-year-old, who signed for the Red Devils earlier this summer in a transfer from Villarreal helped his national team, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) qualify for the African Cup of Nations last week, which means he will be out of action for upto five weeks at the beginning of the next year.
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In a home encounter against Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire played out a 1-1 draw which helped them qualify for the tournament in Gabon. The £30 million signing from Villarreal has impressed since his arrival in England as he has cemented his spot as a centre back alongside Chris Smalling. The 22-year old will miss Jurgen Klopp's men’s visit to Old Trafford which promises to be a feisty affair with now Jose Mourinho in charge of the Red Devils.
This year's African Cup of Nations was scheduled to take place in Libya but was moved to Gabon as the war-stricken country failed to cope with the demands of hosting a major event. The tournament will take place from January 14 to February 5 next year. Bailly will miss United's home games against Liverpool and Hull City along with an away trip to Stoke.
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If Ivory Coast manages to reach the final stages of the tournament, Bailly will miss the home clash against champions Leicester against him the new signing was adjudged man of the match for his excellent display in the Community Shield. Bailly joins United in an eventful summer where the English giants signed him, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba in a single transfer window.
Jose Mourinho had earlier praised the 22-year-old, “He is a player who we believe has all the attributes. He is very strong physically and very fast. It’s not so easy to find a fast player when you have quite a big body; he’s a heavy guy, a tall boy who's really fast. He comes from a Spanish culture where the first phases are important so technically he’s very good. For some periods, he played right-back and, because playing in the right-back position demands more from an attacking point of view, it’s good for a centre-back to play some periods as a right-back.”
