Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans has been ruled out for up to 10 weeks, worsening the club’s midfield injury crisis. The 28-year-old Belgium international injured his ankle in Sunday’s 2-0 win at Newcastle and is unlikely to return until April. Villa are already missing John McGinn, sidelined for two months with a knee injury, and Boubacar Kamara, out for the season after knee surgery. Ross Barkley is expected back soon, while defender Andres Garcia will miss three weeks with a hamstring issue.
To strengthen the squad, Villa are close to re-signing former midfielder Douglas Luiz on loan from Juventus. Despite the injuries, the situation with Harvey Elliott remains unchanged; Villa do not want to pay the extra £30m to make his loan move permanent, though he will transfer automatically if he reaches 10 appearances. New signing Tammy Abraham has joined for £18.5m, and winger Leon Bailey has returned from loan at Roma. Villa, currently third in the Premier League, host Red Bull Salzburg in the Europa League, already having qualified for the knockout stage.
