John Townley is following Aston Villa’s 2025 pre-season tour in the USA
Aston Villa’s third consecutive pre-season tour of the USA is now underway.
Villa will head to Louisville for Saturday’s match at Lynn Family Stadium against Eintracht Frankfurt, who finished third in the Bundesliga last season.
The German side will, of course, be without Hugo Ekitike, after the forward completed a £79 million move earlier this week.
BirminghamLive’s John Townley touched down in the States late Wednesday evening as we bring you coverage of the club’s tour across Nashville, Louisville, and St. Louis.
Finally, a dose of positivity
There’s no avoiding the fact that the last two months have been frustrating for Villa fans — and for those in the boardroom, too.
Ideally, Villa’s ambitious owners would open their purse strings and splash the cash to boost the club’s chances of returning to the Champions League next season.
We all know, however, that financial regulations in the Premier League and UEFA competitions make that challenging in relation to a club’s revenue streams.
Villa are yet to make a significant sale, which would allow them to strengthen the squad. Still, the club remains adamant that no indispensable player will be sold.
One of those key players is Boubacar Kamara, who will continue to play a vital role under Emery going into next season and beyond, after signing a new contract that runs until 2030.
You can’t overstate Kamara’s importance to this Villa side. And after missing out on Champions League football, securing his future is a major boost for the club.
It’s exactly the kind of positive news supporters have been desperate for since that disastrous final-day defeat at Old Trafford.
Who’s on tour?
While Villa haven’t released an official list of players in the travelling squad to the U.S., the club’s social media has revealed most of the names.
Emi Martínez is among them, as expected, though there remains a chance he could leave in the coming weeks.
Manchester United’s recent loan proposal for Argentina’s No. 1 was swiftly rejected by Villa — a bizarre offer, to say the least.
Leon Bailey could also depart, with just two years left on his contract, and the club actively seeking reinforcements in his position.
Villa were open to letting Emi Buendía leave permanently this summer, having negotiated a buy clause with Bayer Leverkusen. However, the Bundesliga side declined to take up the option after his loan spell.
Several youngsters have also made the trip, including Yasin Özcan, Jamal Jimoh-Aloba, Triston Rowe and Travis Patterson.
Samuel Iling-Junior is part of the squad as well, despite being available for a loan move this summer. Enzo Barrenechea, who arrived with Iling-Junior last year, was sold to Benfica last week.
The regular first-team faces are also training in the States too.
Follow John Townley’s journey from Birmingham to Nashville, via Dublin and Boston
Villa in the Ville
I’ll be taking a three-hour bus from Nashville to Louisville later today, ahead of Saturday’s friendly against Frankfurt.
On matchday, I’m looking forward to meeting the many Villa fans who’ll be out in force in Louisville before we head to Lynn Family Stadium.
The Whiskey Thief Distillery seems to be the place to meet if you’re looking for a drink and a singalong with your claret and blue family.
After spending some time there — and grabbing footage for our next vlog — I’ll make the 20-minute walk to the stadium.
Even though I’m here for 12 days, I’m not sure it will be enough to adjust to the Tennessee and Kentucky humidity. A short walk earlier felt like a marathon!
On Sunday, I’ll be back in Nashville for a few days before flying out to St. Louis on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s pre-season game at Energizer Park.
I’ll keep you updated across Birmingham Live and our podcast, Claret & Blue, as the tour progresses.
Who are you looking forward to watching in Villa’s pre-season tour? Tell us here
Every day, the BirminghamLive football desk strive to deliver all manner of news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Aston Villa content.
Our dedicated reporter John Townley – who you can follow on X by clicking here – follows Villa home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between.
So much happens day to day and sometimes you can struggle to keep on top of the very latest updates as and when they occur – that’s why we have produced a daily newsletter which you can sign up to, for free, and which means you’ll have a round-up of the key stories land in your email inbox. Sign up to the Villa newsletter here.
You can also get all your favourite content from BirminghamLive’s Villa team on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in and around the club.
If you prefer reading our Villa stories on your phone, consider downloading the BirminghamLive app, in which you can personalise the content you see by selecting Villa as one of your designated topics. You can get it from Apple here and for Android here.
Our weekly Aston Villa podcast, Claret And Blue, is also available to watch and listen on all major streaming services. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel here, while you can access the podcast on Spotify here and via Apple here.