Diego Carlos to start for Aston Villa for first time since August as BBC pundit urges Unai Emery decision
We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…
Alan Hutton wants to see Diego Carlos start a game for Aston Villa before the Premier League season finishes.
Carlos, 30, joined Villa from Sevilla for £26million last summer [Sky Sports].
However, since then, the Brazilian centre-back has played just three times for the Villans due to a serious Achilles injury.
The ex-Sevilla man has been on Unai Emery’s bench since the 1-1 draw with West Ham on 12 March but he had to wait until the defeat to Wolves last week to make just his first appearance since August.
With Carlos now back from his injury, Hutton would like to see Emery play the Brazilian. However, the Scot admits that Emery might not do that as long as Villa still have something to play for.
“It would be nice to see [Carlos get some games in before the season ends],” Hutton told Villa News.
“It’s been a difficult season for him. He was brought in for big money to be that leading centre-back and he has played some minutes recently but it would be nice to see him come back in.
“The only problem with that is, if Villa genuinely believe they can win these next three games and get into Europe, would you really want to change a defence that has done so well? That’s the big question.
“If they were sitting 10th with nothing to play for, then you’d go and change it.
“It’ll be a big season for Carlos next season after a pre-season. We’ll see more of him then.”
Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa have understandably been Emery’s go-to central defenders this season and it would have been hard to drop either of them before the last two matches ended in 1-0 defeats to Manchester United and Wolves.
Carlos, however, remains a high-value player who may well get a chance in one of Villa’s final three games, which are against Tottenham, Liverpool and Brighton.
In other Aston Villa news, Emery could get rid of this player who he started at Wolves last week.