Youri Tielemans set for spell on sidelines with ankle injury in major Aston Villa blow – as club eyes a move for Douglas Luiz or Ruben Loftus-Cheek to bolster depleted midfield

Youri Tielemans has undergone a second assessment on the ankle injury that has forced Aston Villa to revive their interest in former midfielder Douglas Luiz.

The Belgian sustained the damage in a clash with Newcastle midfielder Lewis Miley during Villa’s 2-0 win at St James’ Park on Sunday.

Daily Mail Sport first revealed the news of Tielemans’ setback on Tuesday morning and it now leaves Villa with severe shortages in midfield.

They are already without Boubacar Kamara, who is set to miss the remainder of the campaign. Like Kamara, skipper John McGinn has a knee injury and though his is less severe, he will still be absent for at least a month. Now Tielemans is the third first-choice midfielder to join the injury list.

Before the Newcastle game, Villa had shown interest both in Luiz and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, as reported by Daily Mail Sport on January 21. At that stage, it had appeared unlikely they would try to sign both, though Tielemans’ injury has forced Villa to reassess their plans.

AC Milan had initially been reluctant to let Loftus-Cheek leave on anything other than a permanent deal. As for Luiz, his currently on loan at Nottingham Forest from Juventus and boss Sean Dyche said he missed Sunday’s 2-0 win at Brentford due to illness. 

His injury means Villa are eyeing up Nottingham Forest’s Douglas Luiz as a transfer target

But Luiz is a peripheral figure under Dyche and while there was tension between the Brazilian and Unai Emery before his move to Italy in 2024, Luiz was a fine performer for Villa and would able to slot straight in without having to learn Emery’s methods.

Villa were also hoping to finalise the signing of Tammy Abraham on Tuesday, after Besiktas agreed to buy their on-loan forward from Roma before selling him on to Villa.