January Transfer Speculation (or lack of) Thread

[ozzjim]

Redmond is going to be a top player from what I have seen of him and Hoilet going to Spurs is nailed on isn't it?

[olaftab]

MON and Zamora are a match made in heaven!

That would be fantastic and I hope Sunderland give him all the money he can waste!

[VillaAlways]

Alex McLeish has hinted Chelsea playmaker Josh McEachran could be a loan target for Aston Villa.

The Villa boss has made a new central midfielder his priority in January having seen on-loan Tottenham man Jermaine Jenas ruled out for the remainder of the season.

McLeish enquired about the 18-year-old in the summer but at that stage Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas wanted to keep McEachran at Stamford Bridge.

However, McEachran has found his opportunities limited to one substitute appearance in the Premier League and a handful of Carling Cup games.

The England Under-21 international has also been linked with a switch to Bolton and Villa’s hopes of securing the player could hinge on Chelsea’s pursuit of Bolton centre-back Gary Cahill, so McLeish remained coy on the prospect of a deal for McEachran.

“There is no movement at the moment. We are thinking about trying to add to the squad and it is probably not fair for me to talk about players at other clubs while there is no business being done,” said McLeish.

“He (McEachran) is one of their hottest prospects. I think they are thinking about loaning him, yes. At the start of the season they weren’t, but the word is they are thinking about it.

“But I don’t want to say yes about anything because I am juggling a few balls.”

Meanwhile, Villa striker Darren Bent is determined to make a difference against Stoke on Boxing Day as he eyes a return after a thigh injury.

“It is an important part of the season for all teams with so many games,” said Bent.

[JJ-AV]

Loaning McEchran to play ahead of Gardner seems strange.

[Greg N'Ash]

daft more like it. we've got kids coming out of our ears as it is. Need someone proven in the midfield.

[luke25]

Sod that, the only way I'd want to develop another teams youngsters is if they'd add anything to our 1st team, like Walker did, Mcthingy would add nothing and hinder Gardner.

[olaftab]

Loaning players from lesser clubs tut tut ... Is this where we are now?

[Exeter 77]

I'm not a big fan of taking players on loan from other Premier League sides. It can hinder the progress of our own younger players as already mentioned and as, with Kyle Walker, give top flight experience to players from which the parent club benefits and is, ultimately, detrimental to our own team's progress.

[Mister E]

Loaning McEchran to play ahead of Gardner seems strange.

Makes no sense.

[Brend'Watkins]

Loaning McEchran to play ahead of Gardner seems strange.

Makes no sense.

It might if he can play full back.  If he can't, well, as you say it makes little sense.

I am not a fan of loaning players from the top 4.  It diminishes our status and does little for our development while at the same time doing plenty for theirs. I'm aware it's our level at present but we should be bigger than this.

[Shrek]

I've no problem loaning from the top 4, it's from the likes of spurs that's embarrassing.

JM does nothing different to Makoun.

[Nastylee]

Perhaps it is a back up plan in case he drops those balls he's juggling.

[toplad4u]

I'm not a big fan of taking players on loan from other Premier League sides. It can hinder the progress of our own younger players as already mentioned and as, with Kyle Walker, give top flight experience to players from which the parent club benefits and is, ultimately, detrimental to our own team's progress.

Exactly felt it really hampered Eric Lichaj's development! And had no chance of keeping him.

[Billy Walker]

I've no problem loaning from the top 4, it's from the likes of spurs that's embarrassing.

JM does nothing different to Makoun.

I think its embarrassing for Villa to be loaning players off any club full stop.  Surely our youngsters are as good as any from the so-called "top four"?  Competing with Bolton to loan a youngster off Chelsea sends out all kinds of signals about our club. 

[Grande Pablo]

Competing with Bolton to loan a youngster off Chelsea sends out all kinds of signals about our club. 

They have the upper hand with a top class centre back to sell in the opposite direction.  That's where we can't compete - all our crown jewels have already  been sold.