Summer 2015 - Transfer Rumours, Speculation & Suggestions

[Villa in Denmark]

I don't think it was so much letting his contract run down as he'd never really shown enough to offer him the sort of money he seems to have been looking for.

I think him getting the rumoured £40K pw over there is as much a sign of Leicester's owners being desperate to get any element of PL experience in and doing a MON.

I don't recall anyone else being mentioned, and for that wage I'm not surprised. In the absence of Leicester, I reckon he'd have stayed for £20-25K as that would have been pretty much his best offer.

Still he got lucky with the deal and it looks like it's working out for him after injury so good luck to him. Just don't have your 1 game in 10 looking like the puppy's plums against us.

[Malandro]

Talking of out and out wingers, Albrighton looked like he had a good game yesterday. For the amount of money a new contract would have cost us, it's shocking we let him go.

Another who gets better with every game he doesn't play.

I agree, he's average at best. Great, he had a good game yesterday and a few at the end of last season but he's no great shakes in my view.

I don't think it was a hard decision for the club at the time, we were cost cutting and he didn't look like being a first team regular.
Having said that Albrighton could easily seek such a contract as he was a free transfer. So I don't think his demands were outrageous, just the market.

[Steve R]

He was a useful player and it's always nice to see a youther come through the ranks and play in the first team. But 40k a week useful? It was a reasonable decision at the time to say no, especially given the financial position we were in. His peer group today would have included the likes of  Amavi, Gueye and Veretout.  He's not in that class.

[Russ aka Big Nose]

He was a useful player and it's always nice to see a youther come through the ranks and play in the first team. But 40k a week useful? It was a reasonable decision at the time to say no, especially given the financial position we were in. His peer group today would have included the likes of  Amavi, Gueye and Veretout.  He's not in that class.

Exactly. Even if he might have signed a new deal at £25k a week based on who we have now he would not get in the match day squad for me.

I can't see who Albrighton would replace and that includes Richardson.

[pauliewalnuts]

I don't think it was so much letting his contract run down as he'd never really shown enough to offer him the sort of money he seems to have been looking for.

I think him getting the rumoured £40K pw over there is as much a sign of Leicester's owners being desperate to get any element of PL experience in and doing a MON.

I reckon that's exactly what it was.

He was never worth 40k a week, and although he has had decent spells there, i still haven't seen evidence to suggest he is now.

[ozzjim]

Villa offered his worth. Leicester offered twice, and got the player. He gets way more freedom playing for them than he would Villa.

Interesting that Shaqiri is at Stoke. I would love it to mean Traore is coming to us.

[onje_villa]

Looks ike Ayew has to be the scapegoat. One always seems to be needed.   To me in the two games I have seen him play he looks a massive improvement on Andi Weimann.

Agreed, Ayew has talent and didn't even do too badly yesterday. Needs a few games under his belt and will be a different story. Formation also comes into. A lot of our forwards struggle as they would sooner play centrally and there simply arent enough places in the team. I still think Weimann is a good natural finisher but was pretty hopeless on the wing.

[silhillvilla]

If Lennon is available I think he would work well in our system

[Villa in Denmark]

If Lennon is the answer, I really don't want to know the question, unless it's who's the biggest headless chicken in the PL

[Villafirst]

I watched one of those scouting youtube things of Grealish yesterday and it is better than anything we have signed.
If we were buying him we would be very excited.  I think he and Gil should fight out the mercurial 'number 10' role and Sinclair/Ayew fight out the other pacy position.

Admittedly unproven but potentially very exciting.

It's very early days for the new signings. It can take a few months to adapt to the PL. Give players like Ayew a chance for heavens sake!!

[pauliewalnuts]

I watched one of those scouting youtube things of Grealish yesterday and it is better than anything we have signed.
If we were buying him we would be very excited.  I think he and Gil should fight out the mercurial 'number 10' role and Sinclair/Ayew fight out the other pacy position.

Admittedly unproven but potentially very exciting.

It's very early days for the new signings. It can take a few months to adapt to the PL. Give players like Ayew a chance for heavens sake!!

How on earth has he said anything there to suggest he doesn't want Ayew to get a chance?

[LeeB]

I don't think it was so much letting his contract run down as he'd never really shown enough to offer him the sort of money he seems to have been looking for.

I was just about to chip in with something slightly along those lines. He'd never totally convinced me, slinging him £40k a week in an austerity drive was never going to happen

[Concrete John]

I watched one of those scouting youtube things of Grealish yesterday and it is better than anything we have signed.
If we were buying him we would be very excited.  I think he and Gil should fight out the mercurial 'number 10' role and Sinclair/Ayew fight out the other pacy position.

Admittedly unproven but potentially very exciting.

I think what we'll see, or at least what I'd like to see, is Grealish or Gil come in for Westwood to make it more of a genuine 4-2-3-1 when we feel we can be more attacking.  Or the 4-3-3 we saw yesterday when we want the solidity of three in the centre, with Veretout given more licence to get forward.  Gil and Grealish come into contention for one of the wide spots or as a game changing sub when we're not playing with a number 10.

[KevinGage]

He might have asked for £40K (According to Albrighton himself, he said he had been offered no deal at all), but you generally ask for more than you are looking for at the start of any negotiation.

Clark and and some of the more recent signings pre French invasion signed on for £30k per week, and I reckon that or a figure close to it would have been enough to see him remain.

In an more attack minded team, I reckon he would thrive. Kind of like how is is now, in fact.

In his latter years with us, he had to endure McPish and than Lambert's Wingless Wonders.  Most attack minded players would struggle with that straightjacket.

[PeterWithe]

He was in the same pub as us before the L'pool semi, happy to chat with other Villa fans. He lost his mother in law in the Tunisia shootings didnt he?

Great crosser of the ball but never looked physically strong enough to help out defensively so made some daft tackles to compensate, a little like Lee Hendrie in that respect. Good luck to him if he got a 40k a week contract at Leics as he was never going to get that here and rightly so.