Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has provided an injury update on Jadon Sancho after he suffered a setback in our friendly against Elche last month.
The 26-year-old landed awkwardly during our defeat in Spain, and immediately had his arm put in a sling in order to protect his shoulder as it was initially hoped that it was merely precautionary.
However, Sancho won’t feature against Bologna in the first leg of our Europa League quarter-final on Thursday night, and he may well be sidelined for a number of our upcoming games as he continues to recover.
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“Sancho is not going to be out for a long time, but he’s still being out,” Emery told the media in his pre-match press conference in Italy, as per VillaTV.
“Hopefully in a few days, maybe one or two weeks, he’s coming back, but he’s progressing well.
“He’s not available for tomorrow.”
It’s certainly a shame to see Sancho now face a spell on the sidelines, as the Villa loanee appeared to be building some momentum and finding form prior to the international break.
Although he’s only managed one goal and three assists in 31 appearances for us so far this season, Emery’s trust and faith in him has undoubtedly been building, as reflected in his increased involvement over the past couple of months.
The Villa boss will now have to look elsewhere for solutions while Sancho is ruled out, with Villa looking to advance in Europe and move closer to securing a top-five finish in the Premier League to ensure that we return to the Champions League next season.
Sancho will hopefully return in time to play a key role in the final stretch, but the responsibility in his absence will fall on the likes of Morgan Rogers, Emiliano Buendia, John McGinn and Leon Bailey to provide quality in the final third behind our frontman, with the hope that Alysson is also able to stay fit in the coming months and establish himself in the squad.