Injury expert Ben Dinnery has been reacting to an injury to Aston Villa star Philippe Coutinho.
The Lowdown: Coutinho injury
The 30-year-old is yet to feature under his new manager Unai Emery after suffering a thigh injury during training at Bodymoor Heath earlier this month.
Reports suggested that the Brazilian was set to be out for around seven weeks as a result, missing the World Cup in Qatar. However, it seems as if that timeframe could be longer following Dinnery’s comments, as it appears to be a complex injury from which to recover.
The Latest: Dinnery’s comments
Dinnery, who contributes for Sky Sports, was speaking to GiveMeSport regarding Coutinho’s injury. He described it as a ‘fairly serious setback’ and said that it could ‘potentially extend beyond 10-12 weeks’.
The injury analyst stated: “We’re looking, initially, at around about two months as a minimum for this one.
“This was a fairly serious setback and we’re looking at a minimum of seven-eight weeks. That could potentially extend beyond 10-12 weeks.
“The difficulty that you always have with long-term injuries is that they’re always fraught with setbacks along the road. It rarely is a smooth, straight line to recovery, so there will be twists and turns along the way.”
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The Verdict: Future in question?
Coutinho has struggled for form this season, posting the lowest WhoScored rating of anyone to start more than three Premier League games for Villa, and is yet to score or register an assist in 12 top-flight appearances, all of which came prior to Emery's appointment.
Speculation in recent days even claimed that Villa could be open to a January swap deal involving the 30-year-old and Inter Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu.
Therefore, we could see Coutinho dropping down the pecking order in the Midlands, with Emery potentially open to offloading the playmaker in 2023.