The defender, Bailly made his very first Premier League play for Manchester United on Sunday since February but sadly, left the pitch with medial ligament damage.
The Premier League club has confirmed that Eric Bailly, Manchester United defender has been ruled out of Ivory Coast’s AFCON squad as a result of the knee ligament damage.
Bailly first started a Premier League game for Manchester United since February in Sunday’s draw against Chelsea but was taken off the pitch in the 71st minute.
Manchester United coach, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revealed right after the match that Bailly, the 25-year-old would not play for Manchester United for the rest of this season and the severity of the damage is enough to mean that Bailly would not be able to take part in Ivory Coast’s matches in Egypt when the continental tournament begins in June.
This year would mark a historic edition of the African Cup of Nations, with the competition now expanded to 24 nations – which was 16 in the previous editions – and having its matches moved from January and February to the summer months.
The change in the tournament means that it will no longer conflict with mid-European domestic seasons, which a lot of clubs from across the leagues have usually been affected by the loss of key players at those moments in the season.
Sunday’s match against Chelsea was likely Manchester United’s last chance to gain some level of control in the race to end up in the Premier League top four, and they looked set to take charge when Juan Mata scored against Chelsea, his old team to give his team the lead.
But a terrible error from David de Gea, Manchester United’s goalkeeper who failed to stop a long-range shot from Antonio Rudiger, gave Marcus Alonso the opportunity to bring the game level and secure their place in the Champions League places.