Aston Villa Faces Midfield Injury Crisis as Tielemans Set to Miss Two Months

omidbasir- Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has confirmed that Youri Tielemans will miss the next couple of months due to an ankle injury sustained at St James’ Park last Sunday.

The 28-year-old midfielder was substituted in the 74th minute during Villa’s 2-0 victory over Newcastle after a collision with Lewis Miley, further exacerbating the club’s ongoing midfield injury issues. Tielemans joins Boubacar Kamara on the sidelines, along with John McGinn, who recently underwent successful surgery.

This injury crisis leaves Aston Villa without several first-choice midfielders heading into their final Europa League group-stage match against RB Salzburg at Villa Park on Thursday. Although Villa has already secured a position in the top eight, they aim to claim the top spot with a victory against Salzburg.

Emery provided an update on the injured players, stating, “We are aware of the situations with Kamara, McGinn, and Tielemans. Kamara is likely out for the season, McGinn is expected to be sidelined for 6-8 weeks, and Tielemans is projected to be out for 8-10 weeks. With these updates, we must manage our central midfielders in the upcoming matches.

“Ross Barkley is expected to return in a few days, having been training individually and is close to rejoining the team. I believe the other players are fit and ready for tomorrow’s match.”

In a timely development, Aston Villa later confirmed that Douglas Luiz has rejoined the club on loan, bolstering their midfield options amid the injury crisis. The 27-year-old previously made over 200 appearances for Villa before moving to Juventus in 2024. Luiz has recently spent the first half of the season on loan at Nottingham Forest and is now set to return to Villa Park for the remainder of the campaign.

When discussing alternative midfield options, Emery noted that Amadou Onana would soon return and that Barkley would be back shortly. Leon Bailey’s loan at Roma was terminated early last week, but he will not be available for Thursday’s match, nor will new signing Tammy Abraham, who was not registered in time.

Abraham rejoined Aston Villa permanently from Besiktas on Tuesday, having previously contributed to the team’s promotion back to the Premier League in 2019 with an impressive record of 26 goals in 40 appearances.

Emery added, “While Leon Bailey and Tammy Abraham will not be involved in the Europa League, we have sufficient players to compete. After letting Donyell Malen leave, we had Tammy Abraham in mind as a crucial addition since it is important to have two strikers. We are excited about the impact he can make for us.”