Aston Villa’s pre-season tour to the United States is set to continue with contests against St Louis and Nashville, before the Premier League season then gets underway.
Their last outing in America saw the Villans tussle with Eintracht Frankfurt in a 2-2 score draw, with both Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers getting in on the goalscoring act for Unai Emery’s men in the Louisville heat.
Villa supporters far and wide will hope both Watkins and Rogers stay put at Villa Park for the foreseeable future, past these summer runouts, amid interest in their services popping up from Premier League rivals Manchester United and Chelsea.
On top of that, fans of the West Midlands outfit will also hope more signings come through the door before the transfer window slams shut, with a new £23m attacker reportedly on their radar.
Villa prepare offer for £23m attacker
It has been a quiet window so far on that front, with Marco Bizot the only real notable addition in between the sticks for Emery’s side.
That’s not to say Villa haven’t been linked with some notable names this summer, with recent developments suggesting that Villa are eyeing up a free transfer move for former Everton marksman Dominic Calvert-Lewin, alongside keeping tabs on another attacker in the form of ex-Arsenal striker Mika Biereth.
However, the most exciting rumour of them all has just surfaced, with reports from Italy – via TuttoJuve – suggesting that Villa, alongside Tottenham Hotspur, are very interested in securing a deal for AS Roma’s Matias Soule.
It’s stated that the English duo are ready to make an offer of around €32m (£27m) for the Argentine midfielder’s services, with Roma ready to sacrifice Soule to raise funds for their own incoming purchases.
Villa will hope they strike gold by snapping up Soule’s services, with the South American potentially going to be another Rogers-style star for Emery if everything clicks.
Why Soule can be Emery's next Rogers
Of course, nobody would be anticipating that Soule would hit the ground running immediately in England, with even Rogers himself needing a season to get up to speed with the demands of the Premier League.
Indeed, Rogers’ first half season in claret and blue only saw him collect three strikes, before then going on to amass a ridiculous haul of 14 goals and 15 assists in all competitions when at the peak of his powers during his stunning second campaign.
The same will hopefully be expected of the £23m attacker, with Soule just fresh off a breakout season at the Stadio Olimpico, having had to cut his teeth away from Juventus on loan at lowly Frosinone, before then coming into his own in Rome.
Rogers also had those same hurdles to overcome, with the former Manchester City youth product marooned in League One just five years ago when shoved out to Lincoln City, only to now be seen as an “unstoppable” force – as he’s been labelled by Jamie Carragher – that is Champions League established and fearless at the very pinnacle of the English game.
Games played
36
27
Goals scored
11
5
Assists
3
5
Touches*
62.6
50.8
Accurate passes*
31.7 (81%)
26.9 (87%)
Key passes*
2.3
1.9
Big chances missed
6
4
Big chances created
8
9
Across his last two campaigns in Serie A for Frosinone and Gian Piero Gasperini’s men, Soule has displayed similarities to Rogers’ blistering Villa performances, with an eye for goal very much on display by the 23-year-old when lining up for his loan employers during the 2023/24 season, culminating in 11 strikes being powered home.
Yet, his efforts in Rome last campaign also displayed a strength to create chances for teammates around him, with five assists tallied up. He also created nine big chances, suggesting he could reach even loftier heights surrounded by Villa attackers such as Watkins, which also isn’t too far removed from Rogers’ total of 16.
Lauded as being an “unpredictable” talent by football analyst Ben Mattinson, the hope will be on Villa’s end that they unearth another diamond in a similar vein to Rogers.
Capable of also playing down the channels, away from solely lining up as a number ten, there’s even a possibility that the pair can cause havoc together next season, as Villa aim to break into the Champions League positions again.
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