should we really be spending £24million on one player??

[El Hurricane]

A panic buy is Chris Boyd on the 31st of January,Bent is being acquired in plenty of time,no work permit required and while Heskey is on a ban.

[peter w]

Firstly, it's £18m not £24m

secondly, if Bent gets the goals that keep us in the Prem for the next 3 to 4 years he'll be worth every penny

Great signing, great bit of business, we've needed a top class striker for over a decade

Christ. Talk about lowering of expectations.

[Mazrim]

I think our ambitions are a bit loftier than staying in the league to be perfectly obvious.

[villasjf]

£24m - all seems a bit desperate to me. May end in tears - still relegated and no money left.

Relegation would cost the club £40m - £50m

[Risso]

I'm hoping that this season is similar to when Sir Brian took over.  Bit of a damp squib to start with, but an influx of new players, a new way of playing and what followed were two glorious seasons.

[Lucky Eddie]

        May end in tears

May will indeed end in tears ..........tears of FA CUP FINAL JOY for Lucky Eddie & co.

My glass is never half full and never half empty. Its always a work in progress with the next glass close behind.

[villasjf]

They are raising the cash already according to this email I had sent me from Ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230575132513&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:1123

[darren woolley]

I think it will be worth it we have needed a signing like Darren Bent to show the rest we are serious about where we wan't to go like other people have said on here i would rather pay the money for Darren Bent than buy three players for 50 grand a week a la Sidwell and throwing the money down the drain like we have done in the past.

[Apyadg]

I assume the hold up is him negotiating a relegation release clause.

[London Villan]

One of the top ten Premiership transfers of all time. Only Manu, Chelsea and Manc have spent more on a player.

[Greg N'Ash]

Personally i think the fee is madness, but then i've been on here moaning about buying a striker for the last 4 years so it would be churlish to complain really.

[mal]

Should we spend big money on 1 player?

Yes without a doubt

For too long we were tatting about with players in the 4 - 7 million range and for the most part they have been shit.

A big

Should we spend big money on 1 player?

Yes without a doubt

For too long we were tatting about with players in the 4 - 7 million range and for the most part they have been shit.

A big marquee signing is what we need, it shows our intentions

Without wishing to step on anyone else's turf, I think you mean marque, meaning 'brand' and not 'Marquee' meaning large tent.

[Concrete John]

I'm hoping that this season is similar to when Sir Brian took over.  Bit of a damp squib to start with, but an influx of new players, a new way of playing and what followed were two glorious seasons.

You know, I was thinking something similar last night.  Struggled to get a hold of the side at first, but then got backing from the chairman and went on our largest ever spending spree (Savo, Draper and Southgate).  Difference here is doing the shopping in Jan as opposed to the summer, but then that's probably because of the transfer window system.

It's a lot for Gezza to live up to, though!   

[CJ]

Does anyone else think that we should be buying one player for this kind of money?
Surely we would  be better off if we were to bring in 3 or 4 players ........ if the "star player" get injured....there is no back up..... buying    sensibly is definitely the way forward.
Bent is good but is that overinflated price really worth it..... I doubt it.
Does anyone else agree..........thoughts please

Sorry mate can't agree with that.  That is straight out of the MON school of transfers - buy 3 average players for £6m each, find out they're not quite good enough so buy 3 more the next transfer window for the same price and the same positions (e.g. perm any 3 from L.Young, Shorey, Davies, Cuellar, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Sidwell et al - not all poor but not all good).  At the minute we are creating chances but not putting them away.  We need a tried and tested PL goal scorer to get us up the table this year and to get back where we need to be next year. The fee for Bent is probably over inflated but that's the deal if you buy within the PL - and we probably got a similarly over inflated fee for Milner.

Over inflated or not, worth every penny in my book if it keeps us up.

[Billy Walker]

It's about time Aston Villa and, by association, the City of Birmingham did something like this.  It has always puzzled me how, over the years, clubs from Manchester and Liverpool could think big yet clubs from the Second City couldn't.  I hope it's a statement of intent. 

One thing's for certain, it has got the cockney media scratching their heads...they just can't seem to get a handle on Aston Villa Football Club, and they certainly seem unable to get a handle on Randy.  This is totally going against their script and world view: boring Brummies and mediocrity go hand in hand.

Let's set the cat among the pigeons and sign Benzema in the summer!