Aston Villa are in “the windy city,” Chicago, Illinois, to take on Club America in the Leagues Cup 2024. It’s a friendly, but they need a W today, because they’ve looked pretty brutal on their preseason tour thus far and need to build positive momentum. We’ll cover that match later today, but in the meantime, we’ve got transfer talk to do, covering items related to Jhon Duran and Romelu Lukaku.
Yes, we’re as surprised as you are to see that second name circulating this weekend.
Leagues Cup 2024 FYIs
Kick-off time: 4:30 PM EST, Aug 3, 2024, Soldier Field, Chicago, IL, USA
Competition: Club Friendly
Aston Villa Preview Material: Team News and Starting XI Prediction
Stream: MLS Season Pass, Univision, TruTV, Max, Televisa, VillaTV
Buy the book: Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America
Check out the image above, as it’s the invite to the pre match press conference with Unai Emery yesterday. Pretty regal and official, huh? Wow!
Turns out Emery didn’t have much to say about recent developments in the team’s transfer window, but then again, he wasn’t really asked either.
Let’s start with Duran, as this match today is being played at the home of the Chicago Fire FC, the very team that Villa purchased his contract from in January of 2023.
Duran is still on extended holiday, following his service to Colombia in the Copa America. So he is not part of the AVFC tour, and this summer has seen him strongly linked with a move away. First to Chelsea, and then to West Ham.
The Hammers narrative has been especially strong, as the east Londoners are understood to have had at least one bid rejected.
However, the Irons looked elsewhere for their striker needs, and signed Nicklas Fullkrug instead.
So where does that leave Jhon Duran? Hard to say because he really thought he had one foot out the door. He’s in search of a new destination in order to get more playing time, and there is interest from Saudi Arabia, but the young Colombian is said to want no part of that.
In sticking with strikers, there are some reports that Big Rom is headed over from London?
Football365 has more on Chelsea’s center forward that they just cannot seem to get rid of.
Due to the giant shape and size of his contract. Antonio Conte, now at Napoli, has shown us that he is ride or die with Lukaku, so the Belgian has been strongly linked with a move to the Serie A club.
However an article from Il Mattino – via GIVEMESPORT, says Villa have reached a full agreement with Chelsea, totally out of nowhere, to hijack Conte’s potential acquisition of one of his favorite players.
It sounds a bit far-fetched, but then again it’s also getting a lot of traction. Sports Mole has more.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.