Idrissa Gueye - now gone

[adrenachrome]

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According to RMC, Lille defensive midfielder Idrissa Gueye will be in Birmingham today for contract talks with Premier League side Aston Villa.

Marseille (€8m + €1m bonus), West Ham (€10m + bonus) and Crystal Palace (unknown) have all made offers but none of these sides have reached Lille’s €12.5m evaluation for the player, unlike Aston Villa whose offer totals at €12.7m.

Southampton are also very interested and had previously made offers for the player, time will tell whether this piece of news will trigger other Premier League sides into a bidding war. The player’s two core ambitions are to play in the Premier League and in the Champions League. Entering English airspace, who knows what might happen. Villa lead, but a deal is not done.

[PaulWinch again]

Hopefully we won't get him pinched from under our noses.

[Clark W Griswold]

Struggling to get excited purely because of our previous record of signing players from the French league or with a history in the French league. Berson, Djemba, makoun, n'zogbia, Sylla all spring to mind, hopefully this one will buck the trend.

[joe_c]

Struggling to get excited purely because of our previous record of signing players from the French league or with a history in the French league. Berson, Djemba, makoun, n'zogbia, Sylla all spring to mind, hopefully this one will buck the trend.

John Carew did ok.

[cdbearsfan]

Why would the performance from players who came from the same place have any bearing on how good he is?

We got McGrath and Djemba-Djemba from the same place. We signed Andy Gray and De La Cruz from the same league.

[brontebilly]

Looks like he will add some much needed presence and pace to our midfield. Then again, Kea looked like he would do the same based on youtube clips.

possible upgrade on the likes of Westwood and a trio of Gueye, Sanchez and Delph further forward next term is an exciting one. 

There is a valid concern that European midfielders have struggled with the physicality and pace of the EPL but our failures Kea, Berson, Makoun were also down to the fact that they were... eh... a little bit sh*t to put it kindly

More importantly its a sign that our club are interested in competing again when we are agreeing fees for that kind of money for exciting talents like Gueye. 

[Clark W Griswold]

I was thinking of it from a culture point of view, they didn't settle although many of those were good players. John Carew had been about and is somewhat different to the players mentioned. He may do well, personally I'm just looking at it cautiously.

[supertom]

I'd much rather take the gamble on this fella than be signing players like Huddle20stone or Carroll. I hope Randy is going to be a little ambitious this summer, regardless of whether we've got two star players heading to the exit. I'd rather we showed enough ambition to tempt them to stay.

[brontebilly]

I was thinking of it from a culture point of view, they didn't settle although many of those were good players. John Carew had been about and is somewhat different to the players mentioned. He may do well, personally I'm just looking at it cautiously.

Carew didnt settle anywhere else really in his career, maybe Gueye should spend a bit of time down Legs 11 like big John to settle in!!!

I dont think any of the midfielders we had who didnt settle (Makoun, Berson, Kea) were good enough players really, for pretty poor Villa sides too. None of them went on to better things after the Villa.

Makoun was nearly as big a calamity as Balaban, an absolute charlatan of a player.

French league football is played at a pretty relaxed pace but I'm completely in favour of getting in the likes of Gueye instead of Huddlestone, Cleverley etc

[BoskoDjembaSalifou]

Would be happy with this. Hopefully this is a sign we'll be paying decent fees for players now, could do with a few more this summer!

[Clark W Griswold]

Put it this way, it would make a lot more sense if we have new owners coming in who aren't going to give a shit if a £9m transfer doesn't work out, and there is plenty more to try again, but if we're spending a big chunk of the budget on an unknown in Premier League terms and we're only thinking of surviving again, it would be slightly mad. Another consideration is if Delph and Benteke are close to leaving for £40m and we have that money plus some extra out of the coffers, then it would make more sense also.

[CJ]

Don't think Delph would be going on the back of this - if anything I think he'll be an upgrade on Westwood to play alongside Delph. Hope we get him - even though tbh I don't know anything about him!

[pauliewalnuts]

There is a valid concern that European midfielders have struggled with the physicality and pace of the EPL but our failures Kea, Berson, Makoun were also down to the fact that they were... eh... a little bit sh*t to put it kindly 

Not wanting to divert the argument elsewhere, but I never thought Makoun got much of a chance, really.

re European midfielders struggling with the physicality and pace, true, lots of them have struggled, but equally, lots of them have managed superbly.









just not for us :-(

[Clampy]

There is a valid concern that European midfielders have struggled with the physicality and pace of the EPL but our failures Kea, Berson, Makoun were also down to the fact that they were... eh... a little bit sh*t to put it kindly 

Not wanting to divert the argument elsewhere, but I never thought Makoun got much of a chance, really.

re European midfielders struggling with the physicality and pace, true, lots of them have struggled, but equally, lots of them have managed superbly.









just not for us :-(

I agree. A change of manager didn't help Makoun really but yes, some player's need time to settle. Who know's how Sanchez might turn out now he's got a season under his belt?

[Toronto Villa]

I will always maintain that Houllier would have got the very best out of Makoun. And imagine a midfield of Makoun and Cabeye.