Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has confirmed that midfielder Boubacar Kamara is closing in on a return from injury.
The 24-year-old sustained a serious knee injury in February, and has been sidelined since as we’ve certainly missed his presence in midfield.
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While Villa moved to bolster that department this summer, Kamara will undoubtedly continue to have a key role to play when he returns, and there was positive news this weekend.
Speaking in his pre-match interview with Sky Sports ahead of our win over West Ham Utd on Saturday evening, Emery noted: “We still have one player injured, [Boubacar] Kamara, he’s hopefully coming back in one month.”
Although the Villa boss didn’t make it clear what stage of his comeback he would be at in one month, the assumption would be that it’s group training given Kamara hasn’t returned to the grass as of yet from what we’ve seen, and has been limited to gym work alongside his teammates.
Nevertheless, that is a huge boost in itself as he’ll step up his recovery work and close in on a return by the end of September or early October, and that coincides with the expected return timeline for Tyrone Mings too, in what would be a vital double boost for Emery and the squad.
One of the more impressive aspects of our win at West Ham was our bench, and how much more experienced, talented and deeper it was, with Ian Maatsen, Jacob Ramsey and Jhon Duran coming on to combine for the winning goal.
With Enzo Barrenechea and Samuel Iling-Junior also pushing to be involved after not featuring in the matchday squad, coupled with Kamara and Mings coming back into the fold too, the group looks increasingly strong and competitive, and we’ll certainly need it if we wish to compete on multiple fronts this season.
Given the presence of Amadou Onana and the partnership that is blossoming between him and Youri Tielemans in our midfield pivot, the expectation is that Kamara may well face a battle to get his starting spot back.
Add Barrenechea, Ross Barkley and perhaps even Leander Dendoncker to the mix too, that’s a lot of competition for places, which is a good thing, but it will still give us a huge lift when Kamara is set to return given what he brings to the team both defensively and with his quality on the ball.
