Aston Villa defender Diego Carlos has taken to social media to dismiss Unai Emery’s suggestion that he has been ruled out against Everton due to injury.
The 31-year-old has been limited to 17 appearances so far this season across all competitions, and he has missed our last two games against Leicester City and West Ham respectively due to what has been described as a small injury.
READ MORE: How Villa could line up vs Everton: Three potential key changes from Emery
He will play no part against Everton at Goodison Park on Wednesday night either with Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa expected to start, but with Pau Torres out with a long-term injury blow of his own, Villa are certainly short of depth at centre-back currently and that is a concern.
With that in mind, if Carlos was fit, the assumption is that he would at least be named on the bench to ensure we have cover if one of Mings or Konsa picks up a knock, but that also has to be weighed up with the ongoing rumours over his future as it does sound as though he will be moving on in the January transfer window.
“Carlos is not fit. He is still being out of the team with a small injury,” Emery told reporters at his pre-match press conference, as per VillaTV,Â
It comes amid intense speculation that Carlos could leave this month, but with no agreement being reached with another club as of yet, it remains to be seen if the Brazilian defender can find a landing spot, which in turn would free Villa up to go out and sign a replacement to improve the squad.
At 31 years of age, with a contract that expires in 18 months and given that he has been injury and error prone, it undoubtedly makes sense for Villa to move on and bring in a long-term upgrade, but Carlos has been keen to communicate that he isn’t actually injured, as seen in his comment below on an Instagram post from a Villa fan account.
Ultimately, the likelihood at this stage is that Villa don’t want to risk him suffering an injury setback and thus scuppering a potential exit this month, and so whether he’s fully recovered or not, Carlos is perhaps being protected with a view of moving on in the coming weeks.
That is surely the best-case scenario for both parties as he’ll find a more prominent role elsewhere, and so for the sake of finding the best solution for club and player, it’s hoped that a suitable offer arrives sooner rather than later to allow us to also add more reinforcements after the arrival of Donyell Malen this week.
🗣 Unai Emery in pre-match press conference earlier: “Diego Carlos is not fit. He is still being out of the team with a small injury.”
Diego Carlos commenting on Instagram…#avfc pic.twitter.com/kD4Z1XBGFT
— Talk Villa (@thetalkvilla) January 14, 2025
