Premier League: Manchester United's Eric Bailly out until Christmas after knee operation

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. [caption id=“attachment_7085111” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Eric Bailly. Reuters[/caption] “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 11 August.