Aston Villa travel to the north east next Saturday to get their Premier League season underway in what is a very hotly-anticipated clash against Eddie Howe’s side. Both sides will likely hand debuts to a few of their summer recruits at St James’ Park with Harvey Barnes, Sandro Tonali, Youri Tielemans, Pau Torres and Moussa Diaby all set to make their competitive bows for their respective clubs.
Their frenetic 3-3 draw during the Premier League Summer Series whet the appetite for what should be a fantastic game – and the pot could be stirred further by reports that Villa are interested in signing Leeds United midfielder Tyler Adams. Adams has a £25m release clause and has reportedly been attracting attention from Newcastle United this summer over a potential move.
The 24-year-old impressed for Leeds during his first season in English football, however, a hamstring injury kept the USA international out of the final few months of the season as Leeds slipped into the Championship under Sam Allardyce. West Ham, Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Brighton have also been credited with an interest in the midfielder.
Villa reportedly see Adams as a potential replacement for Douglas Luiz who has been linked with a move away from the West Midlands this season. Adams, meanwhile, has been very complimentary about Newcastle United recently, telling the New York Red Bulls Podcast that St James’ Park was his favourite place to play football.
Adams said: “Newcastle was bumping this year. They’re doing things the right way and I think they have the recognition now of ‘our team is good and Champions League is in our sights.’
“They came out and there was a full [flag] display. The fans were crazy – that was probably the loudest. It’s never ending [the crowd] you look up and it’s just black. The fans keep going and you’re staring into an abyss.”
If any side firms up their interest in Adams, then he would likely join a mass exodus of talent at Elland Road this summer following the departures of Rodrigo, Robin Koch, Brenden Aaronson, Marc Roca and Rasmus Kristensen. New boss Daniel Farke has had to oversee a rebuild at the club and added Karl Darlow to his ranks last week.