Aston Villa: Emery ‘can improve’ £100k-a-week star at Villa Park | OneFootball

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery may be able to extract the best out of defender Diego Carlos, journalist Pete O’Rourke has suggested to GIVEMESPORT.

Carlos has endured a frustrating time since arriving on English shores last summer but is closing in on a return to first-team action and could thrive under Emery’s tutelage.

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Aston Villa news – Diego Carlos

Villa splashed out £26 million to prise the centre-back away from Sevilla back in June, but he has only been able to make two appearances to date after rupturing his Achilles tendon.

Since then, the Midlands outfit have relieved former boss Steven Gerrard of his duties following a run of disappointing results, hiring Emery as his successor.

And the Spanish tactician has already shown why he is so highly regarded, recording winning seven and drawing two of his 15 games at the helm across all competitions.

Improving the defence has been one of the biggest reasons behind Emery’s success with Villa conceding just one goal in their last three games, keeping two clean sheets in that time.

Carlos, who earns £100,000-per-week, returned to the bench for the first time since he picked up his injury in August against West Ham earlier this month and could improve Villa’s backline further in the final months of the season.

What has O’Rourke said about Carlos?

When asked how exciting the prospect of Carlos playing under Emery is, O’Rourke disclosed that he believes Villa could ‘see the best’ of the Brazilian defender.

In an interview with GMS, he said: “I think working under Unai Emery, who's a really smart defensive coach, will probably see the best of Diego Carlos.

“And if anybody can improve Diego Carlos, you would imagine it could be Unai Emery because he's done a great job so far with the likes of Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa.

“He's really tightened Villa up at the back, so adding somebody with the quality of Diego Carlos is only going to improve that Villa rearguard.”

Have Aston Villa missed Carlos?

Villa are currently marooned in midtable, and while their supporters will be grateful that they’re not involved in a relegation battle, they will be disappointed not to be competing for Europe.

The Villans have leaked 39 goals in their opening 26 Premier League outings, more than West Ham United, who are just one place above the drop zone.

Adding Carlos into the mix will surely improve their chances of keeping opposition attacks at bay, given his quality and experience, and Villa will be eager to see him return to full fitness as soon as possible.