Eric Bailly May Require Surgery on 'Serious' Ankle Injury, Says Jose Mourinho

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has revealed centre-back Eric Bailly may need surgery on the "serious" ankle injury that has kept him out of action since early November. 

The Portuguese said after United's 1-0 defeat of Bournemouth on Wednesday he did not know when the Ivory Coast international would return, per the club's official website:

"I think his injury is serious. 

"I don't know [how long he will be out], but his is an injury that comes from the last time he went with the international team and then we are trying a conservative treatment. But, if the conservative treatment is not resulting, probably he will have a surgery procedure but let's wait a little bit more. 

"I'm not a doctor, I think the doctor can inform [you]. There's nothing to hide, but I don't want to be speaking about it."

When asked if Bailly's season could be over, Mourinho added: "I don't want to be so pessimistic. I want to leave it with a doctor."

The 23-year-old is arguably United's most consistent defender, but the Red Devils have had to cope without him for over a month.

Bailly's last appearance for the club was in the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on November 5. He then returned from international duty with an ankle problem and has not played for United since.

Mourinho has plenty of cover to call upon in Bailly's absence.

Chris Smalling and Phil Jones started in the heart of defence as United bounced back from their weekend defeat to Manchester City by beating the Cherries at Old Trafford.

As noted by Mourinho, Smalling has played "amazingly well for seven or eight matches in a row" and both Victor Lindelof and Daley Blind were on the bench to provide back-up.

However, the prospect of Bailly being sidelined for longer is a blow to United as he has been consistently impressive since joining from Villarreal for £30 million in June 2016.