There is good and bad news for Aston Villa, who have suffered a major injury blow but are reportedly closing in on a ‘marquee’ signing.

Aston Villahave had a troubling couple of days as they suffered a rare home loss against Everton at the weekend, while head coach Unai Emery raised alarm bells with his bizarre comments after the game.

Now, Villa have been dealt a significant injury blow as midfielder Boubakar Kamara is set to miss the rest of this season with a knee injury.

After Kamara was not named in Villa’s squad to face Everton, Emerysaid:?“Kamara is out, his knee.

“We are checking him and he’s visiting some doctors. We are going to know about him in a few days but of course not available and maybe for a long time. Hopefully not so so long time but we are checking him.”

A subsequent report from The Athletichas confirmed that the centre-midfielder is ‘expected’ to be unavailable for the remainder of this season.

READ:?Premier League winners and losers: Manchester United, cursed Emery, Wilson, Arsenal and more…

‘The report claims: ‘Villa had previously stated that the expectation was that the France international would miss between two to three weeks, but a prolonged absence was suggested by their manager.

‘The growing expectation from multiple sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, in recent days was that Kamara was serious, with fears he would be out for a significant length of time.’

This means Villa, who have already missed out on Tottenham Hotspur newbie Conor Gallagher this month, will surely re-enter the market for a new midfielder this month.

Before the severity of Kamara’s injury was revealed, an update from The Daily Mailrevealed Aston Villa’s transfer plans for the remainder of this window.

READ:?Emery could follow ‘weird’ Amorim, Maresca blueprint with Manager of the Month curse out of control

They explained: ‘They tried for Conor Gallagher and need a player who can play in more than one central midfield role. Reliable back-up for Matty Cash would also come in handy and then – of course – there is the attack.

‘Emery wants an orthodox central striker to compete with Ollie Watkins. But as always Villa have to keep a close eye on Premier League and UEFA financial regulations and are restricted in what they can spend.’

As mentioned, Villa are also in the market for a striker following Donyell Malen’s move to Serie A giants AS Roma and former Chelsea star Tammy Abraham currently looks to be their most likely addition.

Current Besiktas loanee Abraham?has also been the subject of interest from Nottingham Forest, who have decided to ‘meet terms’ in a potential hijack,?and Everton, but he is said to be favouring Aston Villa

Football Insider?have named Aston Villa as the ‘big favourites’ to finalise a ‘marquee’ transfer involving Abraham this month.

Shortly after this report surfaced, journalist Ben Jacobs revealed that the Villans have an ‘agreement’ with Abraham.

He said on X: ‘Tammy Abraham has agreed to a move to Aston Villa. Roma prepared to sanction his exit.

‘Parties now working on terminating Abraham’s Bestikas loan, which was always the most complicated part of negotiations.

‘Optimism a deal can be done.’