Aston Villa have suffered an injury blow as it’s reported that Philippe Coutinho is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
The 30-year-old Brazilian playmaker was absent from the squad on Sunday for our win over Man Utd, with Emery confirming after the game to the media that it was injury related.
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While Coutinho has really struggled to find any form so far this season, it remains a blow to lose him for a lengthy period of time even if the World Cup break is fast approaching, as it will do little to help build back his confidence and rhythm to make an impact if given a chance in the side.
According to the Daily Mail, he suffered a quadricep injury in training last week that is expected to sideline him for at least seven weeks and potentially up to 10, and so that’s a setback for him for a few different reasons.
In the more immediate future, he has been denied the opportunity to impress Emery straight off the bat as others will now get significant minutes to impress and potentially push him further down the pecking order.
On top of that, Coutinho will also miss the World Cup having battled so hard to rediscover his best form at Villa to enjoy a prolonged stay in the Brazil squad.
That will no doubt be hurting him now, and so it’s hoped that he can recover and step up his rehabilitation with no setbacks in the coming weeks to make a full and swift recovery.
Emery will want to take a closer look at him to decide whether or not he has a place in his plans moving forward, and so Coutinho will now target a comeback after Christmas. He’ll have to push to get a chance to impress before the January transfer window opens for business though, as the new Villa boss will get his first opportunity to start bringing his own players in to stamp his mark on the squad.