Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has confirmed that Youri Tielemans could be in contention to face Manchester United this weekend.
The Belgian midfielder missed our wins over Bournemouth and Tottenham due to a muscle injury, and it had been suggested that he faced a race against time to be fit enough to feature again this season.
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Albeit we’ve secured the necessary results in his absence and Amadou Onana has stepped up to fill the void left behind by his compatriot, there is no doubting just how important Tielemans has been for us all season.
With five goals and 10 assists in 52 appearances across all competitions, the 28-year-old has been a major influence in our midfield in giving us control and dictating tempo and possession, and that in turn has helped us display excellent consistency in recent weeks.
It would certainly be a major boost to have him back on Sunday in our Premier League season finale with Champions League qualification on the line, and Emery sounded optimistic that he’ll have Tielemans at his disposal, even if in a limited capacity given his lack of training and minutes in recent weeks.
“He trained today, the first day he’s trained with the group,” said the Villa boss, as per VillaTV. “Tomorrow we’ll train again.
“If he’s feeling good, comfortable and, more or less, without some doubt, he’ll be with the team in the squad for Sunday.”
It still seems highly unlikely that Tielemans comes straight back into the Villa XI, but he can still be a pivotal presence in the matchday squad with his experience and leadership to help us get the job done.
Further, if we’re in need of inspiration in the latter stages at Old Trafford, he could be a decisive option to have available on the bench to impact the game, and so it’s undoubtedly great news that he’s making progress in his recovery and could yet feature on Sunday.
As noted above though, Onana has impressed over the past two games in giving us a different type of control and physical presence in midfield, and so Emery will certainly still have a strong line-up regardless and an excellent bench if needed too as we go in search of three necessary points in the battle for Champions League football next season.
