Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has announced that Youri Tielemans will be sidelined for the next couple of months due to an ankle injury sustained during their match at St James’ Park on Sunday.
The 28-year-old midfielder was substituted in the 74th minute of Villa’s 2-0 win over Newcastle after a collision with Lewis Miley, adding to a growing list of unavailable midfielders.
Tielemans joins Boubacar Kamara and John McGinn—the latter recently confirmed he has undergone successful surgery.
This leaves Villa without several key midfield players ahead of their final Europa League group-stage match against RB Salzburg at Villa Park on Thursday.
While Villa has already secured a top-eight finish, they hope to clinch the group lead with a victory over Salzburg.
Emery provided updates on the injured players: “We’re aware of Kamara, McGinn, and Tielemans’ situations. Kamara is likely out for the rest of the season, McGinn is expected to be sidelined for 6-8 weeks, and Tielemans will be out for 8-10 weeks. We’ll need to find ways to manage our midfield in the upcoming matches.”
“Ross Barkley is set to return in a few days. He has been training individually and is close to rejoining the team. Other players are fit and ready for tomorrows’ match,” he added.
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Emery also confirmed that Douglas Luiz is close to rejoining the squad, which would add depth to the midfield amid the ongoing injury crisis.
The 27-year-old midfielder has previously made over 200 appearances for Villa before moving to Juventus in 2024, and spent the first half of the season on loan at Nottingham Forest, now he is ready to return to Villa Park for the rest of the campaign.
Regarding his available options, Emery mentioned, “Amadou Onana will be coming back, and Ross Barkley will rejoin us in a few days.”
“I believe Luiz’s return is imminent.”
Leon Bailey’s loan at Roma was prematurely concluded last week, but he will not play on Thursday, nor will new recruit Tammy Abraham because he has not been registered in time.
Abraham permanently rejoined the club from Besiktas on Tuesday, having been a key figure in Villa’s promotion back to the Premier League in 2019, scoring 26 goals in 40 appearances.
Emery concluded, “Unfortunately, both Leon Bailey and Tammy Abraham are not eligible for the Europa League, but we have a sufficient squad to handle the competition. When we allowed Donyell Malen to leave, we had Tammy Abraham in mind as one of the players to bring in. We are excited to see how he can contribute.”