Transfer Window - Satisfied or Not?

[Dave]

Think release clauses will start to become the norm in all contracts nowadays.  Clubs will then know where they stand when the player starts to get the "time to move" urge.  Think I read somewhere that in Spain a release clause has to be included in every contract, including Messi and Ronaldo.  Would suspect theirs might be approx 1000m euros?

It makes sense, you could introduce a sliding scale where you could say to the player the more we pay you, the higher the fee is.

That's exactly the way it works in Spain, as Fred says there has to legally be a way that the playing rights can be purchased - if the club wants to increase a release clause, the salary goes in line with it. It's why we got Adama as cheaply as we did, he had a low release clause and a fairly low salary. He wasn't keen to sign a new one which would have increased it as he didn't want to carry on with Barcelona B.

As for Messi and Ronaldo, the former's is reportedly €250m, the latter's is reportedly €1b.

[cheltenhamlion]

I am a little surprised by people picking Gana out as the star signing on this thread. He started well but Amavi might better Evra and Traore can be what he wants.

[Salsa Party Animal]

and I think we have the best selling windows this summer. Liverpool took advantage of Manchester City money for Sterling.

[jwarry]

and I think we have the best selling windows this summer. Liverpool took advantage of Manchester City money for Sterling.

Thought that was Everest

[ciggiesnbeer]

Apparently we had the 5th highest spend of the window behind Man City, ManU, Chelsea & Liverpool.

I know we generated a lot of money by selling but still, this makes me happy.

[Dave]

For those who like to pay attention to things like statistics:

Ayew And Other Bargains From The Premier League's 'Rest'

...the turnaround in personnel at Aston Villa has been nothing short of extraordinary since Tim Sherwood took over the reins from Paul Lambert in February.

The perception that Lambert was not given any financial backing during his three years at the club is, to some extent, an exaggerated tale, but it was still surprising to see Randy Lerner - a man looking to sell the club - sign off on nearly £50m this summer, as Sherwood brought in 13 new faces.

Despite having recorded just one win from four matches, Sherwood will be more than pleased with how two of his summer signings have bedded in at Villa Park. Indeed, no player that joined the Premier League this summer has gained a higher WhoScored.com rating than Jordan Amavi (7.62).

The 21-year-old, an £8m recruit from Nice, has made a promising start to life in the Midlands carrying on the good work that made him WhoScored.com's highest rated left-back across Europe's top five leagues last season (7.74).

Other than his costly mistake against Crystal Palace, it has been a superb start for the France U21 international, who is providing a real attacking threat down Villa's left. In fact, no player has completed more dribbles in the Premier League than Amavi (15) and the youngster already has one assist to his name.

Amavi is also showing a defensive nous that is becoming a lost art for modern defenders. Only four other players - including Villa teammate Micah Richards - have won possession more than Amavi (20) in the defensive third of the pitch.

It hasn't just been the Frenchman who has started brightly for Sherwood, but also his new midfield enforcer Idrissa Gueye. The 25-year-old was the second of four players plucked from Ligue 1 this summer, as part of a raid out of keeping with Villa's recent transfer history.

Upon his arrival, Gueye was immediately tasked with the role of replacing former fan favourite Fabian Delph and, while their styles are slightly different, the Senegal international is already proving an impressive replacement.

The former Lille midfielder has already shown an innate ability to slow down opposition attacks, ranking third tackles and interceptions combined in the Premier League so far (29). Additionally, the Senegalese midfielder has shown he can also relieve pressure having drawn 12 fouls this season, a figure bettered only by Mark Noble (16).

The Villa boss will now be hoping the injury Gueye sustained on international duty isn't too serious with the midfielder looking to build on his 7.44 WhoScored.com rating.

Link