Aston Villa’s injury woes worsen as captain John McGinn ruled out for ‘weeks’

Injury-hit Aston Villa have suffered another blow, with captain John McGinn facing a number of weeks on the sidelines.

The midfielder has not travelled to Turkey for Thursday’s Europa League game at Fenerbahce, while goalkeeper Emi Martinez and Boubacar Kamara are also out.

Reports suggest key midfielder Kamara is out for the season after coming off with a knee injury against Tottenham last week, with the club yet to provide an update.

Scotland’s McGinn, 31, was forced off early in Sunday’s defeat by Everton with a knee injury and boss Unai Emery is yet to discover the extent of the problem.

“We are still waiting because he is still visiting some doctors to have a decision [on] what to do,” Emery told a news conference in Turkey.

“It could be for some weeks or it could be [less], it depends on the doctor and how he’s feeling.”

Martinez has a calf problem while new winger Alysson (knee) has also not travelled with Ross Barkley remaining in Birmingham, although Amadou Onana is available after missing the past four games with a hamstring issue.

Villa arrived in Turkey on Wednesday afternoon but president of football operations Roberto Olabe flew out on Monday to watch target Tammy Abraham play for Besiktas.

The striker, who was previously on loan at Villa in 2018-19 and helped them secure promotion to the Premier League with 25 goals in the Championship, featured as Besiktas beat Kayserispor 1-0.

He is currently on loan from Roma but Besiktas, fifth in the Turkish Super Lig, have already activated their option to buy the 28-year-old for about £12m which is making negotiations difficult.

Besiktas – who are also in talks for Wolves defender Emmanuel Agbadou – do not want to sell Abraham and have to find a replacement late in the window, but have been told he is eager to return to England with Villa – despite other Premier League interest.

Sources in Turkey have suggested they are waiting for Villa to meet their demands for the striker who has scored 12 goals in 24 appearances since arriving in the summer.

Meanwhile, Leon Bailey has returned to Villa after the club agreed to cancel his loan at Roma.

There was no recall clause in the deal which took the winger to Serie A in the summer as Roma had the option to buy.

However, both clubs have agreed it is in the best interest of all parties if Bailey returns, having made just one league start in an injury-hit spell.