Eric Bailly will miss Manchester United's game against West Ham United on Monday and up to seven more as he joins Ivory Coast's squad for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.
The centre-back played the full 90 minutes of the Reds' late 2-1 win over Middlesbrough on Saturday but will join his country's Africa Cup of Nations preparations on Monday.
The news was confirmed by Jose Mourinho in his post-match press conference and, if Ivory Coast go all the way to the final in their defence of the tournament in Gabon, Bailly won't be available for the Reds until mid-February.
''Bailly is leaving - he goes to the national team,' Mourinho said. ''He has to be with them on 2 January. We asked them for him to be on 3 January but they refused, so he cannot play against West Ham.
''I know that I lose Bailly for a month and I'm going to have Smalling, Rojo and Jones for, I think, eight matches. So I decided to play Eric [against Middlesbrough] and it was good to have him on the pitch because, one-on-one at the back, he's the best because he's very fast.''
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