Villa’s injury woes worsen as McGinn set for spell out

With John McGinn facing a number of weeks on the sidelines, Aston Villa has suffered yet another blow from injury.

Emi Martinez and Boubacar Kamara, both goalkeepers, are also unavailable for Thursday’s Europa League game against Fenerbahce.

Kamara, a crucial midfielder, is expected to miss the season after suffering a knee injury against Tottenham last week, according to reports. The club has not yet provided an update.

Unai Emery, the manager, is yet to determine the extent of the issue, which led to Scotland’s 31-year-old being forced off early on Sunday in the defeat by Everton due to a knee injury.

At a press conference in Turkey, Emery stated, “We are still waiting because he is still seeing some doctors to decide what to do.”

According to the doctor and his state of health, it could take a few weeks or be [less].

Amadou Onana is available in Birmingham after missing the previous four games with a hamstring issue, but Martinez has a calf issue and Alysson (knee), who is also a winger, is not traveling. Ross Barkley is also still in Birmingham.

Villa arrived in Turkey on Wednesday afternoon, but Besiktas’ president of football operations Roberto Olabe left on Monday to watch Tammy Abraham’s target play.

The striker featured in the 1-0 defeat of Kayserispor by Besiktas, who was previously on loan at Villa in 2018-19 and helped them advance to the Premier League with 25 goals in the Championship.

Although he is currently on loan from Roma, Besiktas, who are fifth in the Turkish Super League, have already activated their option to purchase him for about £12 million, which is challenging negotiations.

Besiktas, who are also interested in Emmanuel Agbadou, do not want to sell Abraham and are looking for a replacement late in the window, but have been informed that Villa are interested in him in spite of other Premier League interest.

Sources in Turkey have suggested that Villa will wait to fulfill their demands for the striker, who has made 12 goals in 24 appearances since joining the summer.

Leon Bailey has since agreed to end his loan at Roma, and he is now playing for Villa.

The deal, which gave Roma the option to buy the winger, did not include a recall clause.