Aston Villa midfielder Boubacar Kamara out at least two months, will miss World Cup – L’Equipe
Boubacar Kamara is set to be unavailable for Aston Villa for at least two months and will miss the World Cup with France, according to L’Equipe.
The midfielder was called up to Didier Deschamps’ squad to replace Adrien Rabiot but has himself now withdraw with a knee injury which will reportedly keep him out of action for a number of weeks.
He was withdrawn just before half time in the Villans’ win over Southampton on Friday night (16 September) to be replaced by Douglas Luiz, but manager Steven Gerrard admitted he was concerned about it after the game.
Speaking to reporters he said, via The Athletic: “I’m worried about it. It seems like every time we get three points it comes with a cost. We’ll scan him in the next couple of days but, yeah, I’m worried about it.”
L’Equipe report that the club have sent the summer signing for treatment in Dubai and he will not be available to return until “mid-November at the earliest”.
France’s World Cup campaign kicks off against Australia on 22 November, while Villa play eight Premier League fixtures in that time, and have a Carabao Cup tie against Manchester United.
Bad news
It is exactly what Gerrard was worried about if Kamara is now set to miss a vitally important stretch of games, which represent the club’s best chance to get on a run before the mid-season interruption following a bad start to the year.
With fellow big-name summer arrival Diego Carlos already ruled out for the campaign after a ruptured achilles in just his second league game the Lions now face a significant period with a squad very similar to last season’s.
The addition of Leander Dendoncker on transfer deadline day now looks all the more vital, as he will surely have to step in for sustained action.
Luiz will also be required on a more regular basis now, which could provide an outside chance that he feels involved sufficiently to sign a new deal.
But there is no way of dressing up the latest prognosis on Kamara as good news since he is the key defensive midfielder that this team needed going into the summer and he is now missing.
Some momentum has been built with the draw against Manchester City followed by the Southampton win, but it is going to be put to the test on the return from the international break, especially with Lucas Digne also looking at time out of the side, and Matty Cash only just due to return from his own injury.
In other Aston Villa news, Alan Hutton says points are more important than performances right now.