The January 2015 Transfer Rumour Thread

[Quiet Lion]

Don't see why it's biased to consider Benteke to be better. He is. Look at the range of his goals. Genuinely two footed, brilliant with his head, great passer, got everything.

He's better than Lukaku as well.

100% agree and I don't think that is through my claret and blue tinted specs

[Dave]

I'm still disappointed in Delph's stance in this.

Which is what?

[mattjpa]

Don't see why it's biased to consider Benteke to be better. He is. Look at the range of his goals. Genuinely two footed, brilliant with his head, great passer, got everything.

He's better than Lukaku as well.

100% agree and I don't think that is through my claret and blue tinted specs

I think Benteke is currently devalued by his injury. We haven't seen the world beating Benteke back yet and there is a chance he no longer exists. Of course a decent second half to the season would dispel that

[KevinGage]

Delph was certainly excellent last season, however I'm struggling to think of a game this season where he's been particularly impressive. For me he's gone from indispensable to replaceable, especially now we have Sanchez. We don't really need an all action type, now we need someone with a bit more guile in the final third. As much as I like delph, he doesn't do that often enough.

Would go along with that.  I rate him as well, but he doesn't really produce that much in terms of creating chances and scoring goals.   

Purely based on those two aspects, perhaps. 

But there is more to a central midfielder. 

He is cute in possession, has quick feet and doesn't just restrict himself to the obvious sideways pass like the rest of our plodders. He is cheeky enough to show just enough of the ball to the defender before nipping away from him and finding space. Stoke away there were countless examples of this. He made it look effortless. He can then hit the afterburners and carry the ball at pace too, invaluable for a team that relies as much on the counter as we do.   

He might not weigh in with as many goals as I'd like, but when he runs at defenders they have a dilemma.  Do they close him down quickly, or do they back off and let him take a shot.  He's capable from long-range, and defenders know that.

He's the closest thing we have to a box-to-box midfielder, without him in the side we look far too leggy and one-paced.  So even if he doesn't often play the killer pass, score enough or make the last ditch tackle that gets the crowd off their feet, he is still going to be hard to replace.

[Matt Collins]

There needs to be a willing buyer and I think the club's willing to pay £30m for BENTEKE will actually be limited. He's not a Man U, Liverpool or citeh style player really

[olaftab]

I think he is any style player except the new Paul Lambert style.

[ozzjim]

I think the difference is Bony misses a lot less chances. Benteke scores a lot of great goals but misses some easy ones.  But is younger faster and better in possession. Worth about the same i reckon.

[john2710]

I'm still disappointed in Delph's stance in this.

Which is what?

He's previously stated that he owes Villa / Lerner for standing by him when he was; to use his owns words; 'missing for 2-3 seasons'. But now it appears this counts for nothing & he's going to look after number one. Personally I find that disappointing, but not surprising. Ultimately he may stay with us, but like most of us I'm resigned to him leaving for nothing.

[paul_e]

This might be a biased opinion but I think Benteke is better than Bony. Bony Is a good finisher but I haven't seen him create his own goals the way Benteke has at times.

If he's £25m I'd be wanting £30m for Benteke.

I wish we'd been a bit braver and gone for Bony ourselves that summer, I think he'd have been excellent alongside Benteke.

In the summer the common opinion seemed to be that we had enough strikers and didn't need any more. Not that we would have been likely to pay £25m for one player.

I meant before he went to Swansea, afterall we were linked to him before we signed Benteke and there did seem to be something in it.

[silhillvilla]

Twitter I know but rumours of loan for Janujaz til May .

[peter w]

Be happy with that.

[OCD]

This might be a biased opinion but I think Benteke is better than Bony. Bony Is a good finisher but I haven't seen him create his own goals the way Benteke has at times.

If he's £25m I'd be wanting £30m for Benteke.

I wish we'd been a bit braver and gone for Bony ourselves that summer, I think he'd have been excellent alongside Benteke.

In the summer the common opinion seemed to be that we had enough strikers and didn't need any more. Not that we would have been likely to pay £25m for one player.

I meant before he went to Swansea, afterall we were linked to him before we signed Benteke and there did seem to be something in it.

I originally read that as saying last summer. I see what you mean now and agree.

Given that Bent was someone who had been a lethal finisher but offered little to general play and appears to have been marginalised for that, I was surprised we signed Kozak as he seems to have a similar profile.

[Goldie.7]

This might be a biased opinion but I think Benteke is better than Bony. Bony Is a good finisher but I haven't seen him create his own goals the way Benteke has at times.

If he's £25m I'd be wanting £30m for Benteke.

I wish we'd been a bit braver and gone for Bony ourselves that summer, I think he'd have been excellent alongside Benteke.

We did try to sign Bony before and it was widely reported everything was arranged and he was leaving Vitesse for Birmingham until they blocked the move. Later that day Benteke signed. A year later when Benteke wanted away I think the reasons we didn't bother going back in for him was mainly because of the previous dealing plus his stock went up a fair few million and obviously Benteke stayed.

Who knows though, we could of been after both that summer.

[Goldie.7]

Random I know.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I think he is any style player except the new Paul Lambert style.

That just leaves us Ningém.