Ever Banega out for 4-6 Weeks

In Valencia’s Champions League match against Bayer Leverkusen last Tuesday, Banega had to be carted off the field in the 24^th minute due to a knee injury and substituted with Tino Costa. The injury is a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee but isn’t as serious as it was with Canales. The injury will keep him sidelined for 4 to 6 weeks and may even see him sidelined for the rest of the year. This could not have come at a worse time for Valencia and Banega as he is their main playmaker for the squad and was finally finding his top form that he had seasons ago. 

 
Now, Unai Emery will have to make serious adjustments to maintain a strong midfield, since he is now missing his two top playmakers, Banega and Canales leaving room in midfield for Tino Costa and Dani Parejo to make their mark in the first team. Tino Costa will be the obvious first choice for that playmaker position as he has excellent passing and shooting ability, as well as his experience with the Valencia first team. Parejo, however, is young and needs playing time to develop. He is an excellent young midfielder and he may finally get the playing time he deserves, but needs to show Emery he is a worthwhile signing.

What is most worrying is that, historically Tino Costa and Dani Parejo are both more injury prone than Canales and Banega, so Emery will need to keep a keen eye on his healthy center mids to make sure the injury crisis doesn’t rage out of control. Hopefully, Valencia can continue to remain competitive and that the remaining, healthy center midfielders can step up and provide the quality required for Valencia.

By: David Wall
Edited: Matt Tobin