Aston Villa identify Champions League midfield powerhouse as perfect Boubacar Kamara contingency plan | OneFootball

Aston Villa are reported to have identified an ideal replacement for knee injury victim Boubacar Kamara in Unai Emery’s midfield engine room, although they face a battle with Turkish giants Galatasaray to get a potential deal over the line.

Emery suffered a blow with the loss of Kamara during the FA Cup win over Tottenham last weekend, and speaking ahead of Sunday’s clash with Everton he gave an update on the player’s situation.

The Aston Villa boss said: “We are checking him and he is visiting some doctors and we are going to know about him in a few days, but is of course not available and maybe for a long time, hopefully not so, so long time but we are checking him.”

The ‘long time’ aspect of that statement has to be worrying for the club, and it comes as no surprise to see Villa being linked with midfielders off the back of it.

Even prior to Kamara’s injury, Emery was in the market for Conor Gallagher before Spurs stepped in, which clearly indicates that he wants to build on a perceived strength of the team.

And now, according to normally reliable Belgian journalist Sacha Tavolieri, Villa have enquired about signing Club Brugge defensive midfielder Raphael Onyedika.

The 24-year-old talent has excelled for the Belgian Pro League, making 24 appearances in total this season, including featuring four times in the Champions League.

The Nigerian, who has played 23 times for his country and featured in the recent AFCON, is widely regarded as having the physical and technical attributes to be successful in the Premier League.

Villa also have a need for more strength in depth as they battle on multiple fronts through the second half of the season, with Onyedika regarded as a strong rotational option for Emery.

While there is no mention of what sort of fee Villa are potentially looking at, he is under contract for another 18 months in Belgium and is valued at €20million (£17m / $23m) on Transfermarkt.

It could well be one to watch in the remaining weeks of the winter window.

Liverpool have been urged to consider a surprise swap transfer involving Ibrahima Konate and a top Aston Villa star.

Elsewhere, Villa are reportedly ready to rival Newcastle United in the race to sign a highly-rated Brazilian midfielder from Palmeiras in the remaining weeks of the January transfer window.

Finally, AC Milan midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek could be set to follow in the footsteps of former Chelsea teammate Conor Gallagher by returning to the Premier League,.