Summer 2013: Villa Transfers, Speculation, Suggestions and Rumours

[tomd2103]

I don't see the point in going for Maloney. I'm making four assumptions:we need a player who can play up front on his own if Benteke is injured/suspended/rested. However, the player needs to be equally adept playing wide to compete for a starting place with Weimann and Agbonlahor.

Considering how good he was there for a while under O'Neill, I'd say the player that you describe above IS Agbonlahor.

I'd much rather the money spent on the above go towards a wide-player, hopefully one capable of playing on either wing in the same way that Young was.

Then it would be Benteke, Gabby and maybe Bowery for the spot in the middle and then Gabby, Weimann and AN Other for the two wide positions, supplemented by the likes of Albrighton and the next generation of youth players.

Agree Dave and I think there are plenty of those kind of players about at the moment.  I think it would also be useful if said player could also play in the attacking midfielder role so it would give us the option to change formation if needed. 

[Irish villain]

In my view, shore up the defence, add some strength and depth and have our forward line firing over a whole season and we'd be a top eight side with an outside bet of European football. It was late January before we found our most potent attacking line-up on a consistent basis while defence has been our weakness all season.

I'm really looking forward to Lambert's next move! We have such a great base to work from.

[paul_e]

For me:

Central defender
Competition at full back (preferably one player covering both sides as an upgraded lichaj)
Attacking central midfielder
1-2 forwards who can play central and wide

so somewhere between 4 and 6 depending on the wide players we go for.

[dekko]

Stole this one off another Villa site: Aaron Cresswell from Ipswich might be a good shout:

He is a LB (cover/competition for Bennett)
He's been linked with us before (notably last summer)
He fits the Lambert transfer policy (fairly young, lower leagues)
He played every minute of every one of Ipswich's league games this season and won their fan's player of the season award
He is fairly good going forward (3 goals and 5 assists this season)

Also, for what its worth, my Ipswich supporting mate reckons he's good enough for the step up, and is resigned to him being off in the next few years.

[ozzjim]

Stole this one off another Villa site: Aaron Cresswell from Ipswich might be a good shout:

He is a LB (cover/competition for Bennett)
He's been linked with us before (notably last summer)
He fits the Lambert transfer policy (fairly young, lower leagues)
He played every minute of every one of Ipswich's league games this season and won their fan's player of the season award
He is fairly good going forward (3 goals and 5 assists this season)

Also, for what its worth, my Ipswich supporting mate reckons he's good enough for the step up, and is resigned to him being off in the next few years.

We were after him all last summer weren't we. Interesting if we do go back in for him. Would not be a surprise with maybe one of ours as a makeweight.

[Ads]

I think we will stick with Bennett. Surely he is going to hit puberty soon and once he does, we can drill into him good positional sense, then bobs your uncle, we have a proper left back.

[mr underhill]

when you've conceded 67 goals, you begin to wonder if we have any defenders worth speaking of, left right or centre

[PaulWinch again]

Bennett will be good, he's already improved a lot since he got a run in the side. He's got a very good left foot and he just needs to build his strength. He'll learn the positional side with experience, but I think there's a very good player there.

[Merv]

For me:

Central defender
Competition at full back (preferably one player covering both sides as an upgraded lichaj)
Attacking central midfielder
1-2 forwards who can play central and wide

so somewhere between 4 and 6 depending on the wide players we go for.

Yep. That's about it for me, too. Biggest investments in a starting CB and CM, a striker to cover for Benteke (assuming he stays), and a versatile defender to cover right-back - even better if he can play centrally, too. I think Lichaj's okay, but given that his contract is up in the summer we should take the chance to upgrade. I think we'll be fine at LB - Bennett is getting there, Stevens is steady, and we have Baker who can do a decent job there. Plus Williams coming through.

If I was being greedy, perhaps one more midfielder - maybe Bridcutt or Stephens - to go with a more established CM who'd be a regular starter and hopefully give our midfield an extra dimension.

So, 4-5 in and the same, if not one or two more, out.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

when you've conceded 67 goals, you begin to wonder if we have any defenders worth speaking of, left right or centre

Add to that Brad has been our best player this season. It ain't been pretty and something needs to change.

[supertom]

Not sure about Cresswell. He seemed to be on the radar initially, but the price quoted was a bit silly for a young lad untested at this level. After a strong season again, you'd think his price might be even higher. If you read behind the lines, which granted aint always the best thing today in football fan forums, you'd guess that Cresswell was first choice and Bennett was second.

For a sensible fee, he'd be worth a go to provide competition. But there were quotes as high as 6 million, so I think we should look elsewhere. Ideally at someone who can cover left and right side.

[Salsa Party Animal]

I haven't see any rumours about linking us to any oversea players yet. I hope we will quietly do transfer and tell us on the day we got our man like Steve Stone transfer. There is no speculation or gossip.

[PaulWinch again]

We need two centre halves, cover/competition for both full backs, a creative midfielder, a wide player and another striker.

[pauliewalnuts]

when you've conceded 67 goals, you begin to wonder if we have any defenders worth speaking of, left right or centre

Add to that Brad has been our best player this season. It ain't been pretty and something needs to change.

Indeed.

Surprised to see some people seemingly not that worried about the defence, or thinking getting a few more kids in will make it better.

How many games is it since our last clean sheet now? 20 or so?

[mattjpa]

I've heard us linked with yanik bolasi from palace. I kept an eye on him last night, looks the real deal