Aston Villa today confirmed the rumours we were all dreading, Emi Buendia has suffered a significant knee ligament injury.
The Argentinian midfielder picked up the injury in training yesterday and has immediately begun scans and tests.
Manager Unai Emery, when asked about the injury in his pre-match press conferences with Newcastle confirmed that we are unlikely to see our little Buendia again this season.
“Yesterday, with the last action in training. It’s a six, seven, or eight-month injury.
“It’s a tough moment for him, but we want to play on Saturday, thinking to win and be competitive for him.”
This is a blow for Aston Villa as Buendia has looked sharp in pre-season and for the third time in three seasons, a major knee injury (Wesley and Diego Carlos) has given Villa a blow early in the season.
Nicolò Zaniolo tipped to replace Buendia
Fabrizio Romano tweeted this morning that Aston Villa had expressed an interest in signing Nicolò Zaniolo. New Villa director Monchi signed Zaniolo at Roma from Inter Milan in June 2018 for a fee in the region of €4.5 million so knows the player well.
Zaniolo was named Serie A Young Player of the Season in his first season with Roma but an ACL injury the following season slowed his progress and he was set to miss the season but Covid prolonged the season meaning he returned for the end of the campaign. He finished that season with 8 goals in 33 appearances.
The following season, another ACL ruled him out for the entire season. When he returned in July 2021 he struggled with fitness and the officials with manager Jose Mourinho said: “I will finish with one observation. I want to say something that probably goes against my interests: if I were Nicolo Zaniolo, I would start thinking that perhaps playing in Serie A means things will be stacked against me.”
That season he went on to score a further 8 goals but the following season was the beginning of the end for his time with Roma. I Giallorossi were demanding a fee of around €50 million but he eventually signed for Galatasaray for €15 million and the player apparently has a €35 million release clause.
During his half a season in Turkey, he scored 5 goals in 10 appearances.
Villa are said to be keen on a loan deal with an option to buy.
Aston Villa formal bid for Nicoló Zaniolo will be over loan deal with buy option clause — no agreement with Gala yet at current conditions ???????? #AVFC
Understand Zaniolo’s keen on the move as revealed in the morning. pic.twitter.com/3SgFVZFZeK
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 10, 2023
