Aston Villa to search loan market in hunt to sign Diego Carlos injury cover – report
Aston Villa are set to delve into the loan market as they look for injury cover for Brazilian defender Diego Carlos, according to the Express and Star.
The 26-year-old, who joined the club this summer for £26million from Sevilla, limped off against Everton at the weekend and was later found to have ruptured his Achilles tendon.
That is likely to keep him out for up to nine months following surgery which could have already ended his first season at Villa Park before it really began.
Steven Gerrard still has Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa and Calum Chambers to call upon at centre-half and even Boubacar Kamara if worse comes to worst but he is not content with just those options.
Villa are now set to scour the market for a loan option for the season before the transfer window closes with Kortney Hause still on course to join Watford despite this latest injury blow.
Far from ideal
The last thing Gerrard wants to be doing now the season has started is going in search of a last-minute signing to cover a big loss to his squad.
Carlos was only finding his feet in English football and looked much more accomplished next to Mings than he did alongside Konsa at Bournemouth on the opening day.
Aston Villa are now back to square one again and some of the money saved earlier in the window that could have been put towards a new attacking signing will now have to go on defensive cover.
At least a loan shouldn’t cost as much as a permanent deal would and there will be plenty of players available the later into the window it gets as clubs become desperate to ship out their fringe players.
Another Premier League loan would be a great decision to take if the opportunity arises to avoid any adjusting to English life even if that means they are unavailable for the odd game throughout the season.
In other Aston Villa news, Richard Keys made an eye-opening claim after the Villans’ 2-1 win over Everton as Gerrard put his faith back in Mings.