Mourinho: Bailly could need surgery on his knee
Jose Mourinho fears Eric Bailly may need surgery on a “serious” ankle injury that could put the Manchester United defender’s hopes of playing again this season in jeopardy.
Bailly’s last appearance for United came away to Chelsea on Nov 5. Since then he has missed eight matches. Mourinho said Bailly had originally suffered the injury on international duty with Ivory Coast, though he did not specify exactly when. Bailly returned to Manchester with an injury after playing against Mali in October, but he played three games for United and was suspended for his country’s World Cup qualifier against Morocco last month.
“I think it’s serious,” the United manager said after his side’s nervy 1-0 win over Bournemouth at Old Trafford last night. “We are trying a conservative treatment but if the conservative treatment is not working, he might have a surgery procedure.”
Asked if he was worried Bailly may not play again this season, Mourinho said: “I don’t want to be pessimistic, I want to leave it with the doctor.”
Henrikh Mkhitaryan was again left out by Mourinho, who said he was picking players who deserved inclusion. The Armenia midfielder has been omitted from the 18-man squad for seven of the past eight matches and is facing a serious battle to win back the manager’s trust.
“I can only have six players on the bench and I try to have some balance on the bench,” Mourinho said. “I had two defenders that can play in different areas, I have Ashley Young to cover the wing and wing-backs position, [Ander] Herrera is a midfield player, Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] is a striker, [Marcus] Rashford is a second striker and a winger. To have Mkhitaryan means I don’t have one of them and I believe the others deserve.”
Eddie Howe, the Bournemouth manager, claimed United’s goalscorer Romelu Lukaku should have been sent off in the first half. The Belgium striker escaped a yellow card for a poor challenge on Nathan Ake in the 18th minute and was then booked for a foul on Harry Arter. “The first tackle was a yellow card and we made that point to the fourth official, and then he picked up a booking which was a clear yellow, so he should have been off the pitch,” Howe said.
Meanwhile, United and Manchester City have been given another 48 hours to provide their accounts of the Old Trafford tunnel bust-up that saw Sunday’s derby descend into acrimony.