According to reports in The Telegraph, Aston Villa winger Jack Grealish could be out of action for up to six months after suffering a blow to his kidneys that left him in hospital for three days.
The England Under-21 international has already suffered many setbacks in his short career to date and he was left in agony after being hit in the kidneys in an accidental clash with Watford midfielder Tom Cleverley during the two sides’ pre-season clash last weekend.
After visiting him in hospital following the incident, Villa boss Steve Bruce said: “It will be at least three months and it could be much longer than that.
“We hope that he has a speedy recovery, of course, as losing him is a blow to us.”
Grealish has only made 44 starts for the club during the course of the last three seasons following a number of injuries and off-the-field problems, but Bruce could still look to bring in a replacement on the left wing as he doesn’t exactly have a wealth of options in wide areas despite strengthening his squad this summer ahead of a promotion push.
Here are three Grealish replacements Villa should sign this summer…
Sam McQueen
Despite enjoying a successful loan spell with Southend United during the 2015/16 campaign, McQueen certainly wouldn’t have expected to be a first team regular for Southampton when he returned to St Mary’s last summer, but he was quickly given his opportunity in the first team.
While he played as a more advanced left winger for the Shrimpers, early season injuries to both Ryan Bertrand and Matt Targett saw the 22-year-old feature at left-back for Saints in both the Premier League and the Europa League and he went on to make 22 appearances in all competitions throughout the campaign.
Despite impressing, both Bertrand and Targett look to be above him in the pecking order right now – the latter impressed with two assists against Saint-Etienne last weekend – which could see the club consider loaning out the versatile left-sided player.
Sheyi Ojo
Having enjoyed a successful loan spell with Wolverhampton Wanderers previously, the left-footed Ojo would have hoped to have been given a chance in the Liverpool first team last season – especially when Sadio Mane jetted off for the African Cup of Nations and suffered an injury towards the end of the campaign.
However, the 20-year-old made just two appearances – both in the FA Cup – for the Reds and he looks set for a loan move to the Championship this summer in order to get some regular playing time.
Villa are one of the clubs interested in the winger according to The Mirror, and he would certainly be an exciting replacement for Grealish on the left wing because of his pace and dribbling ability.
Ryan Kent
Like his Liverpool teammate Ojo, Kent is a left winger by trade and Jurgen Klopp could choose to loan him out to a Championship side again after the 20-year-old enjoyed such a successful spell with Barnsley last season.
He featured in all but two of the Tykes’ 46 Championship matches, scoring three goals and providing a further three assists, and he impressed for his parent club in their pre-season friendly against Bayern Munich this week.
Kent loves to dribble – he successfully completed 94 take-ons last season – and get crosses into the box and that would be music to the ears of the likes of Villa strikers Jonathan Kodjia and Scott Hogan as Steve Bruce’s side look to challenge for automatic promotion in the upcoming campaign.
Do you agree, Villa fans? Let us know below.
