January Transfer Window - Rumours, Links, B*llsh*t and Made-Up Nonsense

[JUAN PABLO]

 
Curtis Davies is set to complete his £1.75m move from Aston Villa to Birmingham City tomorrow after agreeing personal terms on a three-and-a-half-year contract at St Andrew's. The central defender is due to undergo a medical at Birmingham tomorrow morning, and providing there are no problems he will be confirmed as the club's first permanent signing in this transfer window.

There is a possibility Sebastian Larsson could move in the opposite direction – the Swede held talks with Villa today – but Davies's transfer is not dependent on that deal happening. The 25-year-old Davies cost Villa £9m when he joined from West Bromwich Albion in 2008 but after impressing early on and getting into the England squad he spent a period on the sidelines with a shoulder problem and was unable to regain his place. Villa told Davies he could leave in the summer and reduced their asking price to £1.75m with a further £750,000 to follow in add-ons.

Davies has made only two appearances for Villa this season but one of those was as a substitute in the Carling Cup, which means he will not feature in the final against Arsenal at Wembley next month. It had initially looked as though he would be returning to Leicester City for a second loan spell but Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager, decided to move for Davies when Scott Dann was ruled out for the remainder of the season with a hamstring injury.

[Chris Smith]

Ha, shows what I know!

[Marlon's Hairy Wood]

I can see why Houllier would be tempted to buy Larrson

- first off hes on minimal wages and the cost is barely anything
- he's a hardworking player and not someone whos disruptive
- versatile
- we've been playing all of Albrighton, Downing and Young. They will get tired during games, especially Albrighton whos looked fatigues at times.  We need a bench thats able to compete, at the moment we have Robert Pires as our attacking midfield option if we don't want to reshuffle our formation.

It's a low risk, low cost, decent squad option

He may not be the signing everyones crying out for, but I don't see why anyone would rather us not sign him when squads are so important these days and theres such a low risk.

Edit: plus I hate Larrson when we play Blues, which is usually a compliment

[avfcfanatic]

Davies 1.75 million that's way to cheap didn't the mail mention 3.5 million??

[Marlon's Hairy Wood]

Davies 1.75 million that's way to cheap didn't the mail mention 3.5 million??

Its suppose to be 1.75 if we get Seb or 3.5 straight cash

[Shrek]

All we are gonna hear is how they bought Davies for a fraction what we paid, he will be a good signing for them.

[Marlon's Hairy Wood]

Also may I think Seb would deserve props if he joined us this month, hes practically giving up on a medal to join us 6 months early rather than risk us not being interested in the summer

[pauliewalnuts]

Also may I think Seb would deserve props if he joined us this month, hes practically giving up on a medal to join us 6 months early rather than risk us not being interested in the summer

Practically giving up on a medal?

So it's pretty much a given that Blues are going to beat Arsenal?

[Marlon's Hairy Wood]

Also may I think Seb would deserve props if he joined us this month, hes practically giving up on a medal to join us 6 months early rather than risk us not being interested in the summer

Practically giving up on a medal?

So it's pretty much a given that Blues are going to beat Arsenal?

You get a medal whether you win or lose in cup finals.

Everyones different as to how they see a runners up medal, but thats the minimum hes going to get by stopping at blues for a few more months and then choosing wherever he wants to go after that, when he'll probably have a lot more of a choice.

If he wants to join us now, that shows hes very eager to be apart of us and is willing to sacrifice one of the biggest occasions in his career, so i'll welcome him with open arms.

[pauliewalnuts]

I don't think he's going to have that much of a choice, certainly not any better than coming to us. I also don't think a Carling Cup losers medal is much of a prize to forego.

I don't mind him as a player, but he's definitely, talent-wise, in the "should consider himself very lucky to get a chance to play for a club like this" camp.

[RussellC]

There are 2 reasons why Larsson would be a good signing:

1) He'll instantly be a better more mobile version of Pires on the bench.
2) It means that the Blose will have to field their 3rd-choice RM in the League Cup Final as Bentley is cup-tied.

[KevinGage]

Thing is, he might have that attitude Paulie and we might be better for it.

Rather than Baros or even Ireland-types who think they're doing us a favour just being here.

I'm slowly coming around to the idea, when you consider who has been on our bench in recent games. He's not a world beater, but in terms of building a squad we could do far worse.

That said FWIW, I think he will opt to remain there. The cup final, playing against his old club and having more options in the summer being the chief reasons.

[ozzjim]

I agree Kevin, I think he will turn it down in the same way he did Newcastle to keep open his options till the summer.

Davies - whatever the fee, and 1.75 plus add ons is low, he has shown himself to be a nervous wreck much of his time at Villa. Maybe for a smaller club he will find consistency, but Albion fans were delighted with the fee they got for him. Hopefully there will be a sell on clause in there if he does become brilliant on a consistent basis, but my gut feeling is they will play the lad that came into the side the other night till the end of the season and Curtis won't get a sniff.

[Mazrim]

There is one thing I'll say. Villa should, at all times, have at least one Scandinavian playing for us.
It's just one of those unwritten rules that I've made up, yet seem correct somehow.

[Villa'Zawg]

Liverpool reject £40 million bid from Chelsea for striker Fernando Torres

Liverpool have confirmed that they have rejected a £40 million bid for striker Fernando Torres.

By Telegraph staff 11:17PM GMT 27 Jan 2011

The Spanish international has been linked with a host of clubs over the past 12 months, including Manchester City and Barcelona, but Chelsea have made the first move.

A Liverpool spokesman said last night: "Chelsea have made an offer for Fernando, which has been rejected. The player is not for sale."

Premier League champions Chelsea are believed to have had a £52 million bid for Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero and defender Diego Godin rejected earlier this week, and have now turned their attentions closer to home.

But having met stiff resistance from the Anfield hierarchy, it remans uncertain whether they will improve their offer for Torres, who has shown signs in recent weeks of returning to his best form.


Makes Bent look like a bargain.