Summer transfer, gossip, speculation thread

[manic-road]

A good day so far, I get in from work to find that we have bought another player whilst the Blose have sold their best player.

[LowerNorthStand]

The cartoon Southampton have put together for Che Adams I'd well worth a chuckle of you're on Twitter.

I thought they would have Monk on a train heading out of Birmingham

[cdbearsfan]

A good day so far, I get in from work to find that we have bought another player whilst the Blose have sold their best player.

And their captain is fucking off for free 😂

[AsTallAsLions]

Well hello Rafael. Tbh this looks like a link with absolutely Zero basis, but he's a tidy little player. "Aston Villa want £25m Lille forward Rafael Leao" according to HITC.

[Toronto Villa]

Well it should be a fun week. Guilbert will arrive, Wesley will be announced and it will be interesting to see now that everyone is back and pre season kicks off if we can firm up Mings, Phillips and Webster. Get in Butland and you start to have a very decent base of players. By the end of the window add a couple of high quality players and we have something quite good to look forward to.

[cdbearsfan]

It's all starting to come together.

Can we have some links with exciting wingers, please, while we are at it.

[JJ-AV]

Agree we need to strengthen the forward line. I still think we need another 7, but the four we're after currently are the priority positions IMO - Butland, Mings, Webster, Phillips

If we get those and alternatives we still need a winger, a forward and another midfield player.

[cdbearsfan]

I think we need two wingers. Green hasn't done enough to warrant being first reserve yet.

[Toronto Villa]

I wonder also what happens with Tshibola, BB, Lansbury? None of them even PL squad players so imagine they will go. Maybe Lansbury makes it. And agreed about Green. We need at least one forward, and 2 wingers.

[JUAN PABLO]

stil need a Jarrod Bowen or Saïd Benrahma in , as the team needs more goals as it stands.

[paul_e]

I think we need two wingers. Green hasn't done enough to warrant being first reserve yet.

The link the Leao today is interesting because I'd say he's the type of player we'll be looking at, can play on the wing, or in behind as well as right up top, 1-2 like that would give us a lot more flexibility in attack. In midfield it's really hard to know what we need, Grealish, McGinn, Hourihane and Jota can all bring something in there but none of them are the defensive shield player we need so that is now a massive priority. After that do we sign another player in the same mould or do we have Hourihane as an alternative and look at other options. Are Doyle-Hayes, Tish, Clarke or even Ramsey worth a look at as backup options? Personally I'd give them a chance during pre-season and make the decision towards the end of the window because if we're never willing to give our academy players a chance we're never going to know if they can make it, I think Clarke and Ramsey could both become very good players for us with good coaching, Doyle-Hayes I'm unsure and Tish, I suspect, is done and will be off if we get any offers.

[SaddVillan]

Time to take stock of where we are so far:

Confirmed
El Ghazi (24) 6'2" 4 yr contract £undisclosed
Jota (28) 5'11" 2 yrs £undisclosed
Targett (23) 6'0" 5yrs £11.5m rising to £14m
Hause (23) 6'2" £3m
Moraes (22) 6'3" 5 yrs £22m

And Guilbert (24) 5'10" has joined after his loanback to Caen expired.

If we sign
Butland (26) 6'5"  £20-£22m
Webster (23) 6'4" £20m
Mings (26) 6"5" £10m
Phillips (23) 5'10" £22-£25m

That would take our spend up to c.£140m.

Happy with just those players, they're all (with the exception of Jota) young, their height should improve our attacking and defending at set pieces. which could be crucial in garnering some valuable points. And if Smith weaves his magic, they all have the potential to improve and increase their transfer values.

Should we be looking for further additions? If so who?

Of the peripheral players, who could/should we sell - any of:

Kalininc
Nyland
Lansbury
Bjarnasson
Kodjia
Tshibola
Hogan
Davies
Green

[jwarry]

Never realised Jota was that tall. Always thought of him as diminutive for some reason

[Villafirst]

It's all starting to come together.

Can we have some links with exciting wingers, please, while we are at it.

Just get the bid in for Benrahma now! We can easily afford £20m

[AsTallAsLions]

Seems Smith's other unspoken criteria is players should be tall...