The Aston Villa faithful must be in dreamland this season, with Unai Emery working his magic to continuously exceed expectations.
Villa's latest result was a huge 2-1 away win against Fulham, which was vital after their 2-1 loss at Villa Park against Manchester United last weekend.
However, the intense schedule is finally catching up with the squad, with the defence looking particularly thin after the injuries to Ezri Konsa and Diego Carlos.
That said, they could also do with another midfielder to fill the void left by Boubacar Kamara, and one former star would have been perfect for Emery's side.
When Kamara could play for Villa again
Although the defeat to the Red Devils could be looked upon as a missed opportunity later on in the season, it will be the loss of Kamara that the Villa fans will be concerned about.
The French midfielder was substituted in the second half after clashing knees with a United player, and at the time, it looked like a short-term impact injury.
However, it was reported earlier this week that Kamara had actually ruptured his ACL, which will keep him out for the rest of the season. It's been stated that we won't see him back in action until September or October.
The 24-year-old is a vital cog in Emery's system, providing defensive security to the team and a perfect balance to the midfield alongside Douglas Luiz. Kamara is the only midfielder in the squad whose main focus is on the defensive side of the game, as highlighted by the fact that he averages the most tackles and interceptions in the squad, and his absence could just be season-defining.
Replacing him will be hard but they could have had the perfect stand-in had things gone differently a few years ago.
Aston Villa sold the perfect replacement
Stamford Bridge is now the home of Carney Chukwuemeka after he swapped his boyhood club for Chelsea in 2022. The midfielder, who has been described as a "superstar" by Football Talent Scout Jacek Kulig, left for £20m during Steven Gerrard's reign and could well have now been the perfect man for Villa's midfield.
At just 20 years old, he has plenty of quality that he has yet to show to the Premier League since moving to the Blues. During this spell, Chukwuemeka has played 22 games for Chelsea, but Mauricio Pochettino showed his trust in the youngster by starting him in the first two games of the season.
However, he has had a horrific time with injuries this season, which has seen him miss 23 matches already this campaign, but he has shown glimpses of his quality, scoring and assisting in five games for the Blues.
His best performance in a Chelsea shirt was against Man United towards the end of last season, which proves he could have provided great cover for Kamara.
Minutes
82
Pass accuracy %
93%
Touches
73
Successful dribbles
2/2
Duels won
5/5
Tackles
2
It's clear that Chukwuemeka is an extremely confident player when on the ball, whether it be when he is passing the ball or using his 6 foot 2 frame to breeze past opponents, as shown by his high touches and pass accuracy, along with his 100% dribble success rate.
The former Villa gem also made two tackles and won 100% of his duels, which shows that he would have been more than capable of performing the defensive duties that the injured 24-year-old usually takes on.
Although Villa did benefit financially from the midfielder's exit, signing a player with a similar profile and potential would cost much more than the £20m fee they let him go for, and he would have excelled under Emery if he had never left.
