Well, this is very strange indeed. To cut a long story short, Eric Bailly is currently not in the Manchester United team because Ivory Coast did not qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

According to United boss Jose Mourinho, Bailly is neither injured nor out of favour; the centre-back is just not in the XI at the moment due to the fact that his national team did not qualify for this summer's tournament in Russia.

Chris Smalling and Phil Jones are battling to be a part of the England squad that travels, while Victor Lindelof will more than likely go with Sweden. As a result, all three are currently ahead of Bailly in the pecking order at Old Trafford.

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It would not be an exaggeration to say that Bailly was United's best centre-back last season by a country mile, but he has really struggled for first-team football in recent weeks.

Mourinho revealed his reasons at his weekly press conference on Thursday afternoon ahead of the clash with Brighton & Hove Albion, and the United supporters, who adore Bailly, could not believe what they were hearing.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below: