Aston Villa correspondent Ashley Preece has said that Diego Carlos could be left out of the club’s official 25-man Premier League squad.

The Lowdown: Carlos injury

The 29-year-oldwas Villa’s marquee signing over the summer, arriving from Sevilla in a deal worth £26m. He started the first two games of the season but suffered a serious injury against Everton in the first home fixture of the campaign.

The Brazilian ruptured his Achilles tendon and has since had surgery on the problem, and it looks as if he may not feature again this season.

The Latest: Preece’s claim

Writing for Birmingham Live, Preece said that Villa are due to submit their final 25-man squad to the Premier League following the completion of last week’s summer transfer window.

When it came to the stricken defender, the reliable reporter said that it is ‘expected that Carlos could be left out of being named in Villa’s official squad list given his severe Achilles injury which will keep him out of action for the majority of the season’.

The Verdict: Bad to worse

Sky Sports stated that Carlos was expected to be out for a minimum of six months, which would’ve been a mid-February return at the earliest.

Therefore, it makes sense for Villa to exclude him from their squad from now until the end of the January transfer window, although it is a case of bad to worse for the player himself knowing that he could officially be absent from a 25-man squad.

Jan Bednarek was brought in on deadline day as a result of Carlos’ injury, so you'd expect that the Poland international would take his spot in the meantime, and hopefully the Brazilian will be in better shape come February.