Following a knee injury sustained in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace, Aston Villa centre back Ezri Konsa will be sidelined for three to four months. According to the Athletic, Konsa, 24, will miss Villa’s pre-season training but should return in August, ahead of the start of the 2022/23 season.
Villa have been given another blow, with goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez ruled out of Thursday’s match against Burnley, but he could return in time for the season finale against Manchester City. Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard said: ‘Ezri Konsa had a scan and it’s confirmed that he’s got a knee injury. He’ll be missing for up to 16 weeks.
‘When someone leaves the pitch, and you see the challenge and it’s very close to you, you fear that it could be an ACL and a six to nine-month injury.
‘Thankfully, it wasn’t. It’s an injury quite similar to (Marvelous) Nakamba’s injury. We managed to get Nakamba back after 14 weeks, but the timescale’s more between 12 and 16 weeks.
‘If you are going to sustain an injury as a player, it’s not the worst time in the world – even though there’s never a good time – because he won’t miss much football.’
Calum Chambers is expected to replace the injured Konsa, and with Martinez’s injury, on-loan goalkeeper Robin Olsen is set to make his first start since joining from Roma in January.
However, the injury does not appear to be serious, and he should be available for Villa’s final match of the season on Sunday against reigning champions Manchester City. Martinez has improved Villa’s defense since joining for £15.66 million from Arsenal in 2021, playing 74 games and keeping 26 clean sheets. Last season, he was nominated for the coveted Yashin Trophy and finished sixth behind Thibaut Courtois and Keylor Navas.
