Aston Villa are reportedly set to open talks with influential midfielder Boubacar Kamara over a contract extension.
The 25-year-old arrived on a free transfer from Marseille in 2022, and he has since gone on to make 71 appearances for the club across all competitions.
READ MORE: Critical second half of season awaits for Villa ace which could determine future
That number would undoubtedly be higher had he not suffered a serious knee injury in the back-end of last season, but having successfully recovered from that setback, the French international has re-established himself in the Villa starting line-up and is once again a highly influential figure in Unai Emery’s side.
Given that influence and impact that Kamara makes on a consistent basis, it’s no surprise then that The Telegraph report that Villa are set to open contract talks to extend his stay at the club and consider it a priority, despite the fact that he still has over two years remaining on his current deal.
That in turn shows the importance of the Frenchman and the awareness from Villa that we must reward him to reflect his importance in the team and to hopefully continue to fend off any interest that may come his way in the future.
Whether it’s his ability to shield the backline with his elite positional and tactical awareness or using his physicality and tenacity to win midfield battles, or his technical ability in possession to play a key role in our build-up play, Kamara is a key cog in how Emery wants us to play, and it’s been a joy to see him back at his best in recent weeks.
He’ll hopefully continue to now stay injury free and become increasingly influential in the second half of this season, and whether it’s Youri Tielemans or Amadou Onana partnering him in our deeper midfield pivot, we have quality and competition in that department now, and it’s crucial that we sustain that moving forward.
While it’s unclear at this stage if negotiations will go well and a new deal will soon follow, it’s positive and reassuring in itself that Villa have the intention to lock Kamara’s future in, and hopefully he’ll be a pivotal player for us for many more years and form part of the nucleus of this squad in our push for more success.
