Aston Villa midfielder Ross Barkley has provided a positive update as he looks set to return from injury this week.
The 31-year-old has been sidelined since early January, and recently revealed on social media that he had sustained an MCL tear, and picked up a calf issue off the back of that.
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While Unai Emery has suggested in recent weeks that Barkley is getting closer to making his comeback, it hasn’t yet happened as he evidently hasn’t been deemed ready to feature.
However, as per his post on his Instagram below, it appears as though the Villa ace is now back training with the rest of the group at Bodymoor Heath, and that is a major step of progression towards coming back into contention.
Villa host Cardiff City in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Friday night, and so it remains to be seen if Barkley is ready to make the matchday squad at least, in what would be an important boost for us.
Coupled with the absences of Boubacar Kamara and Amadou Onana due to injury woes of their own, we’ve been left light in midfield in recent weeks, and that has put a bigger strain on John McGinn and Youri Tielemans to play without being afforded a rest.
That arguably contributed to our poor performance in our 4-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on Tuesday night, with our hectic schedule demanding a lot from the players having played every few days, and so reinforcements returning from injury in the coming weeks will be a welcome sight for all concerned.
Barkley has made 23 appearances across all competitions so far this season, scoring four goals and providing two assists, and it’s hoped that we’ll see him back featuring in our next few games and continuing to play a key role in our campaign, as he was doing prior to his setback.
Ross Barkley on Instagram 👊🏽🟣🔵#avfc #UTV pic.twitter.com/0swSeVHRyV
— Talk Villa (@thetalkvilla) February 26, 2025
