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Eric Bailly made his Manchester United debut in the friendly with Wigan
Bailly, 22, was a £30million summer arrival from Villarreal this summer
But the defender is currently unable to speak English with his team-mates
It means United manager Jose Mourinho is keen to play him as much as possible so he can get used to his new surroundings
MANCHESTER UNITED NEWS: All the latest Old Trafford news and views

Published: 09:12 EDT, 17 July 2016 | Updated: 11:46 EDT, 17 July 2016

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Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is keen to overcome new signing Eric Bailly's language struggles by playing him regularly throughout pre-season.

Bailly, a £30million summer arrival from Spanish side Villarreal, is currently unable to speak English making communication with his new team-mates difficult.

The defender made his United debut in the 2-0 pre-season win over Wigan but with Mourinho keen to get Bailly used to his new surroundings, that won't be the last we see of him in friendly action.

Jose Mourinho is keen to give Eric Bailly plenty of pre-season action as he deals with his language problems

New Manchester United signing Bailly is currently unable to speak English with his OId Trafford team-mates

Bailly might be struggling with English but he impressed on the pitch in United's friendly win over Wigan

MANCHESTER UNITED AT WIGAN

MANCHESTER UNITED (4-1-4-1): Johnstone 6 (J Pereira 82, 6); Fosu-Mensah 6 (Jones 45, 6), Bailly 6.5 (Tuanzebe 82, 5), Blind 7 (Blackett 74, 6), Shaw 6.5 (Valencia 45, 6); Herrera 7.5 (Varela 74, 6); Lingard 6.5 (Januzaj 45, 6), Carrick 6.5 (A Pereira 45, 6.5), Mkhitaryan 7 (Mata 45, 7), Depay 6 (Young 45, 6); Wilson 6 (Keane 46, 6)

Goals: Keane 48, A Pereira 59

On Bailly's performance at the DW Stadium, Mourinho told MUTV: 'He can't speak English, he just communicates with the ones that are French-spoken or Spanish.

'So for him step by step that's the reason why I will give him more than 45 minutes.

'He's one of the players who I want to give 65, 70 minutes because more than others he needs to play, needs to feel it and needs to start communicating.'

Despite his language struggles, Bailly impressed against Wigan, playing for 82 minutes as goals from Will Keane and Andreas Pereira got Mourinho's new era at Old Trafford off to a winning start.

Still only 22, Bailly is one of a number of centre half options available to Mourinho with Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind all competing for a starting spot.

Bailly played for 82 minutes in the 2-0 victory over the Latics, earning praise from United boss Mourinho

The former Villarreal defender is one of a number of centre half options available to Mourinho this season

Having shelled out a significant amount of money to bring Bailly to Manchester from La Liga, Mourinho was impressed with what he saw at Wigan.

And the Portuguese even compared the young defender to another man he's helped flourish in the past - Real Madrid's Raphael Varane.

'It is the first time he wears a heavy shirt like the United shirt is,' the United boss said of Bailly.

'I will give him everything to try to make him better and better and better like I did previously with other very young central defenders I had in my hands, like for example Varane.

'I will try to make him the best I can but the reality is that he showed all the potential that we saw when we decided to buy him.'