Aston Villa could be without key player for ‘a long time’, admits Unai Emery – as he targets move to bring an England international back to Villa Park

Boubacar Kamara is to have further assessments next week on a knee injury with Aston Villa desperate for their midfielder to avoid a long spell on the sidelines.

The Frenchman is arguably Villa’s key player and their results when he is in the team are significantly better than when he is not. Kamara had to go off early in Villa’s FA Cup win at Tottenham last weekend and must now undergo further checks.

‘We are checking him and he is visiting some doctors and we are going to know about him in a few days, but of course he is not available and maybe for a long time,’ said Villa boss Unai Emery. ‘Hopefully it will not be such a long time but we are checking him.’

Even though Emery was reluctant to discuss potential new signings on Friday, Tammy Abraham is open to returning to Villa after spending a successful loan spell with the club in the 2018-19 season.

The Frenchman was forced off during his side’s FA Cup victory at Spurs last weekend

It now falls to Villa to agree a deal with Turkish club Besiktas to bring back the England international, who would replace Donyell Malen in the squad. Malen is on an initial loan deal with Roma, with an obligation to buy at the end of the campaign.

Emery added: ‘It wasn’t an easy decision but it makes sense. Players always have the chance to get a deal to leave the club. He opened his door to listen in case some team can give him something better than us.’