Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has provided an update on Amadou Onana after he was replaced at half-time in our win over Bologna in the Champions League.
The 23-year-old has established himself as a key figure in the Villa midfield since his arrival in the summer, with his partnership with Youri Tielemans in that deeper midfield pivot proving to be highly influential in our excellent start to the season.
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In turn, Emery will be hopeful that he isn’t without either of the pair for too long as the campaign progresses such is their importance to the way we play, but there was concern this week after the Belgian international was replaced at half-time in our 2-0 win over Bologna.
Given we had grown into the game as the first half went on and looked to be in the ascendency going into the second, it was feared that the decision was potentially made due to a fresh injury setback, and although Emery confirmed that Onana was feeling some pain, it didn’t sound particularly serious as he also suggested it was partly a tactical choice to bring Ross Barkley on in his place.
“Tactical decision but as well he had some pain,” he told TNT Sports, as per BBC Sport. “Not clear. I decided tactically and also not take a risk with him.”
Onana returned to the bench for the second half and so it’s hoped that there are no doubts over availability heading into Saturday’s encounter with Bournemouth, but such is the strength in squad depth that Villa have now, not only will Barkley be pushing for more involvement if Onana is ruled out, but Boubacar Kamara made his comeback from a lengthy injury layoff on Tuesday night to give Emery another top option.
The Frenchman has been missed since he sustained the blow in February, as although Villa have continued to play brilliantly and become increasingly competitive, there’s no denying how influential he is for us in both phases of the game with his defensive qualities and technical ability in possession.
In turn, while Bournemouth may come too soon in terms of a start, he’ll perhaps be eyeing our Carabao Cup clash with Crystal Palace next week as a possible game he can start in and ramp up his workload, but for the weekend, it’s hoped that we don’t have to disrupt that Onana-Tielemans partnership, which has been excellent up to this point.