Summer Transfer Thread: Speculation, Lies, Absolute Cr*p and Bosman Rumours

[Mazrim]

Maybe he just wants to have a dart at one successful sporting enterprise instead of having two floundering ones. Until we see what happens next its all speculation. But I think its more likely he's selling the Browns because he's more interested in Football and can use money to influence Premier league matters more directly than is possible in the NFL. Plus he only has x amount of time and somethings got to give.

I certainly think he didn't have to sell the Browns but has chosen to so you have to ask why and financing Villa is one of the more obvious conclusions but not the only one and yes, nobody should get carried away. The MO wont change overnight, nor should it. Sensible, sustainable building should be the order of the day.

That said, I think Randy has recently benefitted from Bank of America stock doing well and he's about to be another billion dollars better off. I think its reasonable to assume that Villa will benefit somehow. Whether thats the odd high profile signing, stadium redevelopments (North stand) or whatever.

[villastikz]

I agree Mazrim, I believe Lerner has a much bigger interest in "soccer" than NFL football and he didn't choose to buy the Brown's, he inherited them, whereas he chose to by the Villa clearly showing his preference for our football than there's.

The Brown's was his dad's asset and he just doesn't seem to have the heart in that as he does soccer and in particular the EPL.

[silhillvilla]

I really hope there's no substance to the Danny Rose rumours

[olaftab]

I think Danny Rose is a really poor player. He might prove me wrong, but I don't think he's up to much at all.

I agree. He is no better than many of our youngsters who have failed to make the step up. No thanks.

[Percy McCarthy]

None of us know Randy's intentions. We can read the indications how we like and draw conclusions but it's all guesswork. Ultimately, one can be cynical, have an open-mind on it, or look forward to the best-case scenario. I go for the latter - it's a lifestyle choice.

I think he's going to concentrate more time and resources on The Villa. Like I always thought he would, he's fallen in love. It's hard not to when you know the old girl he's fallen for.

[supertom]

Newcastle are looking to sell Demba Ba, if someone offers them the £7m to activate the release clause in his contract which expires in a couple of days, so that they can bring Carroll back.

If Lambert is thinking we need another striker then Ba could be an option, and a much better value for money option than Carroll considering he would cost twice as much but not give twice as many goals than Ba.

Ba's 27 so still got a fair few years left in him yet, got 4th highest goal tally in EPL last season and had a good record for West Ham too scoring 7 goals in 10 starts and 2 subs. He's played in France, Belgium, Germany and now England so he's been around a bit in different leagues and scored regular in all of them.

£7m on a 3 year contract could be good for us - as of yet we don't know if Gabby is going to get back to his best, Weimann is still pretty much an unknown quantity on just how many goals he can get in a season and the Fonz is another unknown quantity on whether he can play the season and get the goals we need from him as a striker.

Your forgetting that he has very dodgy knees and that he failed a medical @ Stoke before Newcastle took a gamble and his wages would be an issue

The old dodgy knees story, in his last 2 seasons he has played in 73 games and scored 32 goals, can't be that bad can they.

I think the issue with his knees was not a current problem but a problem that may develop in the near future. If Newcastle are seemingly happy to let him go after such a successful season for them, then I'd be concerned he's a ticking time bomb.

Carew failed a medical before he joined Fulham. By the time he came to us, obviously he did well but he was injured a lot.

I like Ba. He's decent but it may be a risk. 

[Steve R]

...
Selling one asset doesn't mean he's planning anything different for Aston Villa.

Much the same thought occurred to me when I read this. Thinking back to all the Arab investor rumours, it's even possible he tried to sell us first before finding it easier to offload the Browns.

Whether he needs or wants to sell both could be a different matter.

I haven't seen any mention of his mother in all this, but after being cleaned out by O'Neill and then his ex, it is possible that the family trust want some money back in the coffers. Selling the Browns won't have been easy for him.

Either way, I doubt he has sold the Browns to fund more profligacy in the UK. We may benefit in other respects from being his one and only, but I doubt we will see much of the money.

[Dante Lavelli]

I think you’re pretty spot on there Steve.  I do not expect to see more money from Randy but hopefully having less other stuff in his life will mean that he can communicate more effectively with PF and PL speeding up/improving communications.

[pauliewalnuts]

Maybe he needs the money? Just a thought.

[silhillvilla]

I think Danny Rose is a really poor player. He might prove me wrong, but I don't think he's up to much at all.

I agree. He is no better than many of our youngsters who have failed to make the step up. No thanks.

Which youngsters are you referring to ?

[villastikz]

Newcastle are looking to sell Demba Ba, if someone offers them the £7m to activate the release clause in his contract which expires in a couple of days, so that they can bring Carroll back.

If Lambert is thinking we need another striker then Ba could be an option, and a much better value for money option than Carroll considering he would cost twice as much but not give twice as many goals than Ba.

Ba's 27 so still got a fair few years left in him yet, got 4th highest goal tally in EPL last season and had a good record for West Ham too scoring 7 goals in 10 starts and 2 subs. He's played in France, Belgium, Germany and now England so he's been around a bit in different leagues and scored goals in all of them.

£7m on a 3 year contract could be good for us - as of yet we don't know if Gabby is going to get back to his best, Weimann is still pretty much an unknown quantity on just how many goals he can get in a season and the Fonz is another unknown quantity on whether he can play the season and get the goals we need from him as a striker.

Your forgetting that he has very dodgy knees and that he failed a medical @ Stoke before Newcastle took a gamble and his wages would be an issue

The old dodgy knees story, in his last 2 seasons he has played in 73 games and scored 32 goals, can't be that bad can they.

I think the issue with his knees was not a current problem but a problem that may develop in the near future. If Newcastle are seemingly happy to let him go after such a successful season for them, then I'd be concerned he's a ticking time bomb.

Carew failed a medical before he joined Fulham. By the time he came to us, obviously he did well but he was injured a lot.

I like Ba. He's decent but it may be a risk.

Ba did have a serious injury whilst playing for Mouscron in I believe 2006. He needed an operation to patch him up but the surgeon was negligent and that caused further complications that had to be then re-operated on and rectify the problem. In 2007 he joined Hoffenheim and since then has started 112 games and come on as a sub in a further 14 games.

He has had some problems with clubs pulling out of possible transfers due to medical grounds but after 6 years since he got the initial injury he continues to play regular and score goals. Undoubtedly a serious injury followed by complications from the surgery is a concern but considering his recent form and matches played in I would think the risk isn't as high as it would of been when he moved to Germany. He then fell out with Hoffenheim and forced a transfer away from them to join West Ham and later left West Ham after they were relegated when he joined Newcastle after a get out clause in his contract meant he could move so he hasn't been sold by a club because of any injury issues, he's actually been instrumental in going where he wanted to play.

Although being a regular at Newcastle it is another get out clause that will mean he would be leaving a club, although it's the club trying to activate it this time so they can get their goldenboy back, he could be a good player to bring in - we do need another goal scorer who has been playing well and scoring goals recently, as we are hoping on players who have lost form or only just breaking into the squad for goals, after scoring 16 goals in his last 2 seasons having played in over 60 games and at £7million Ba could be good value for money if given a 3 year contract that favours the club, such as a 2 year contract with further option based on health, in case of long term injury problems we wouldn't be stuck with him forever that way.

Maybe I'm talking out my butt however, I would like to see him playing for us as he's showed he can get 16 goals in 34 EPL games for Newcastle after getting 7 goals in 12 EPL games for West Ham - 23 goals in 46 EPL games isn't too shabby at all.

[LeeB]

It's probably a degenerative knee problem, which means it's not going to get better and it's a matter of time before it goes pop.

This being the Villa, it would happen 3 games and 6 goals into the season.

[maidstonevillain]

Maybe he needs the money? Just a thought.

Might be the case. Last few years Forbes have had his wealth at $1 billion. If his stake in the Bowns was pretty close to $1 billion, he couldn't have had much more money kicking around.

[saunders_heroes]

Maybe he needs the money? Just a thought.

Might be the case. Last few years Forbes have had his wealth at $1 billion. If his stake in the Bowns was pretty close to $1 billion, he couldn't have had much more money kicking around.

I read somewhere his family trust fund is worth £5b, so he can't be that skint.

[peter w]

Maybe he needs the money? Just a thought.

Might be the case. Last few years Forbes have had his wealth at $1 billion. If his stake in the Bowns was pretty close to $1 billion, he couldn't have had much more money kicking around.

Aye, I hear you brother. Life can be such a bitch when you get down to that last billion.