Aston Villa midfielder Boubacar Kamara
Aston Villa midfielder Boubacar Kamara (Image: Getty Images)
Unai Emery believes Boubacar Kamara has returned from his ACL injury an even better player than he was before.
The midfielder suffered his knee ligament injury in February and missed the final three months of last season and the start of this campaign. Without Kamara, Villa shipped two or more goals in eight of the 14 league matches he missed last term.
After returning from his serious knee injury in October, Kamara then picked up a hamstring problem in Villa's 2-0 defeat at Liverpool before the November international break, but returned to action last month against Juventus and has started the last three league matches.
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Ahead of the club's matchweek six fixture against RB Leipzig, Emery was asked about the 25-year-old's importance as a linchpin in his side.
"Kamara is a very important player because he gives a lot of balance in our structure," Emery said. "Tactically, he is a very intelligent player and when we need to play covering, keeping possession, he’s one player that we have to continue the process with him.
"When we arrived here two years ago, his process was being fantastic and he got injured. He’s starting playing even with a better level than he had before his injury.
"For the squad and for the players when we needed to sign a player like Onana in the summer it was because we lost a lot of balance when we lost Kamara. Now with Kamara, Barkley, Onana and Tielemans and sometimes playing there John McGinn, we have very strong midfielders keeping us at the level we need and Kamara is one of those players."
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