Tyrone Mings‘ injury woes continued after he was forced off in Aston Villa‘s 2-1 comeback win over Chelsea, and Unai Emery has no choice but to cash in on the English defender this summer. The 31-year-old’s loyalty to the Villans is admirable, seemingly playing through the pain barrier, but his fitness struggles are a problem.

The 31-year-old lasted 59 minutes before a knee issue became all too much, and he needed to come off for Lamare Bogarde, who caught the eye with an impressive display. Marco Asensio‘s brace, courtesy of two Marcus Rashford assists, turned the tide at Villa Park after Enzo Fernandez had given the visitors the lead.

Mings fared well, making several vital interceptions, including throwing his body in the way of Pedro Neto’s shot early on. But another knee injury could mean another spell on the sidelines for the 18-cap England international. His contract is up in the summer of 2026, and Emery is likely to make strengthening his defence a priority, which should mean offloading the veteran centre-back who’s been with the club since July 2019.

Aston Villa Must Move On From Mings

Emery can’t rely on the defender

Mings has missed 74 games due to knee problems, including a large chunk of that during the 23-24 campaign with an ACL injury. He has been rushed back into action, playing three games within a week after returning to action midweek, and this has taken its toll, which likely means another period on the medical table.

The Bath-born centre-back made two important blocks and won all three of his ground duels and both of his aerial duels before pulling up with his injury. He has been a fine servant for the Villans, but Emery needs to make the tough decision to call time on his spell with the Birmingham outfit, who have the versatile Bogarde to turn to, with the 21-year-old Dutchman putting in a faultless display after replacing Mings.

Mings, who earns a purported £100,000 per week, joined Villa from Bournemouth six years ago for £20 million and has made 179 appearances, but his career is winding down, and his injury hell is a recurring issue that Emery can’t ignore. The Villans have also been dealing without the injured Spanish defender Pau Torres and were without Frenchman Axel Disasi because he was ineligible to play against his parent club.

All statistics courtesy of SofaScore – correct as of 22/02/2025.

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