Aston Villa could reportedly be without Boubacar Kamara for at least two months due to the knee injury he suffered last week in the win over Southampton.
The 22-year-old limped off just before half-time after suffering the blow in a heavy 50/50 tackle, with Villa boss Steven Gerrard immediately expressing his concern over the injury when speaking to the media after the game.
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Having already lost Diego Carlos to a long-term setback, it was hoped that Kamara would avoid a similar fate, but unfortunately it sounds as though he will be out of action for an extended period of time too.
According to L’Equipe, Kamara could be ruled out for at least two months after sustaining a sprained knee, and he has travelled out to Dubai for treatment already.
While that ultimately ends his hopes of making the World Cup given the need to prove his fitness and form in a competitive France squad, it means we’re unlikely to see him in action until after the winter break given our last fixture prior to the World Cup is played on November 13 against Brighton, around the same time he’s expected back.
It’s hoped that Kamara makes a full and speedy recovery, and while naturally we hope to see him return ahead of schedule, it’s important that he doesn’t suffer any setbacks during his rehabilitation that potentially make the injury worse.
Gerrard will be posed with a selection headache now given how influential Kamara was in the No.6 role in terms of providing protection in front of the Villa defence, but he does have options.
The straight-forward fix would be to slot Douglas Luiz back in that role given he played there for most of last season, but Kamara’s injury blow could open the door to a formation switch with a 4-2-3-1 potentially coming into play if Gerrard believes we need more in that area of the pitch which no one individual can provide.
Marvelous Nakamba and Morgan Sanson will undoubtedly hope to be in that conversation and get a chance too, but between Luiz, John McGinn, Jacob Ramsey and Leander Dendoncker, it looks as though we’ll have options, but the real blow from a Villa perspective is that arguably none of those players can replicate what Kamara does for the team both in and out of possession.
