Aston Villa vs Roma
Not all club friendlies catch the eye; in essence the pre-seasons preparations are more about match fitness, early training outputs and fine tuning by the coaches.
But this summer we’ve seem some superb warm up clashes and I expect another one at the Bescott Stadium when Aston Villa and AS Roma meet on Wednesday night. These are two upwardly mobile clubs with eyes on top four places in their respective leagues. Unai Emery’s Villa finished sixth in the Premier League last season and were very unlucky to miss out of Champions League football. Meanwhile Roma finished fifth in Serie A and, under new manager Gian Piero Gasperini I Giallorossi are hoping to muscle in on the race for the Scudetto.
These are two teams with similar standing and it will be fascinating to see how they measure up in Walsall on Wednesday.
Emery is in the dealing room
Of the two managers, I suspect Villa’s Emery has a tougher task in trying to repeat his fourth placed finish in 2024 and, after a relatively calm summer transfer window I expect things to heat up over the next week or so. The Premier League 2025 news on Sunday revealed that the Villa boss wants to be re-united with Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson, who he coached as Villarreal manager before the Senegal star made his big money move to Stamford Bridge.
The Blues are asking for big bucks, around the £80m mark, for their forward and Emery has hinted he would be open to the idea of selling his star striker Ollie Watkins to raise some cash, and that will be of interest to Newcastle United who may be about to lose their goal getter Alexander Isak.
And Villa have their eyes on a Roma player who has impressed over the past 12 months, and was on target as I Giallorossi beat RC Lens in a warm-up last week. 23 year old striker Matias Soule is the man in question, and the Villans are reported to be preparing a bid of around 30m Euros for the Argentine. He scored 11 goals and made five assists when on loan at Frosinone in 2024 and settled into life in Rome nicely last season, scoring five goals in 27 games. Soule is a clever player with great balance and a turn of pace which can give any defence the jitters, and Emery is a big admirer.
There could also be a return for Marco Asensio, who was on loan at Villa Park from Paris Saint-Germain last season. He seemingly has no future at the Parc des Princes and Emery would be happy to have Asensio back after he had a bright spell in the Midlands. The next couple of weeks will be busy in the transfer market and Aston Villa are sure to be in the news, so keep it here at SBOTOP for all the latest updates as the drama unfolds.
Gasperini’s Roma are ready to go
While Emery is busy in the market, Gasperini has already been pretty active since his arrival in Rome, with recent signing Daniele Ghilardi making it five signings for the summer. The 22 year old central defender has switched to Roma from Hellas Verona for a fee of 11.5m Euros and he joins 21 year old fullback Wesley and keeper Devis Vasquez in the defensive unit, while midfielder Neil El Aynaoiu and striker Evan Ferguson have joined the creative group.
Roma fought off competition from Premier League clubs for the signature of 20 year old Ferguson who has joined on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion with a 40m Euros option to buy. The Republic of Ireland star burst onto the scene as a 17 year old in 2022 and he won the Seagulls’ Young Player of the Season award for 2022/23, scoring ten goals in 25 appearances. The following year was not so productive for Fergsuon, and last season he went on loan to West Ham United. A move to Italy may be just what he needs to re-ignite his career, which is still in its infancy.
A 2-0 win over RC Lens gave Gasperini plenty of encouragement at the weekend as defender Gianluca Mancini got on the score sheet alongside Soule; but there was a note of caution as Ivorian defender Evan Ndicka felt a thigh strain and had to be withdrawn. Gasperini won’t take any risks at this stage.
The early Serie A fixtures see Roma open up with a tasty clash as Bologna are the visitors to Rome and they too will be in the chase for the European places. But the latest Serie A 2025 betting odds say I Giallorossi are the most likely team to break into the top four and they will be a good test for Villa in Walsall on Wednesday.
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