This is Manchester United’s dream January defence including these key targets

CB – Eric Bailly

Before injury against Chelsea, centre-back Eric Bailly had made a fine start to life in English football.

Not many people had heard of the 23-year-old when he arrived from Villarreal in the summer, and the £30 million price tag also had many scratching their heads.

However, the Ivorian international has been one of the few shining lights in United’s sluggish start to the campaign, and he looks like he could command the United defence for the foreseeable future.

He suffered a knee injury against Antonio Conte’s Blues last month, and looked set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines only for reports to suggest that he could be back next month.

This would be a welcome boost to a United side that have kept just two clean sheets in their last ten league games.