Summer transfer, gossip, speculation thread

[JUAN PABLO]

I won’t believe anything now until that Wolf Pack cock tells me his dog heads have signed him.

Im hoping he says they have signed jarrod Bowen and Philips in  a double swoop

[Dazvillain]

Was hoping for away shirt for PHILLIPS and keepers shirt for a.n. Other but suppose it’s all going to be quiet now with Purslow joining the team in USA .
A week without signings !?!?😩😢

[Duncan Shaw]

Why would he go on the tour?  I suppose it's about building relationships in the land of opportunity.

[JUAN PABLO]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scored-blog/2019/jul/11/aston-villa-mistakes-fulham-summer-transfer-window-signings

[dicedlam]

The positive in me says, great signings we really are building a something good here. The other (smaller) bit is thinking, are we just building a really good Championship squad?

I'll be honest, I am a bit worried about that, too.

I had the same conversation last night.
Every single player we have signed so far ( except Targett), plus most of the existing squad, needs to make a massive step up in standard.
Whilst I am delighted with the signings so far, we really need a couple of quality, experienced players.

It pains me to say it but players like Sturridge and (really sorry) Delph could do a job for us.

Is the step up in standard so great? I'm not so sure it is...

Yes, all the usual suspects will be in a different class altogether, but I'm so sure you can say the same with the likes of Sheff Utd, Norwich, Brighton, Southampton. Maybe even the likes of Burnley, Palace and West Ham. All these teams we should at least be holding our own with, if not above come the end of the season.

I believe what we are creating at the moment is the right way to go by purchasing gifted young players that will show no fear of playing in the premier league. So far I have not heard one interview from our new players that you get the feeling that they are just happy to be collecting a bigger pay packet. They all seem to give the impression that the Premier League is there rightful stage to play on.

I truly believe Dean Smith is building something great.

[FatSam]

I keep thinking that we're too reliant on Brentford players, and if they were that good Brentford would have been doing better. However, I had to just remind myself that we've only signed Konza, Jota and Hogan (who seems unlikely to be involved in the EPL squad). This is despite being linked with Henry, Barbet, Benrahma, Sawyers and Maupay off the top of my head. On this basis I'd be happy if Maupay or Benrahma were to come in as well. Going forward, and once we have the pressure of this summer's enormous overhaul out of the way, it would be good to have the recruitment along the lines of Brentford's model, but with young players out on loan to get experience. I notice that Brentford currently have more of their players in England U21/U20/U19 squads than we do.

[Damo70]

Bjarney is ok to have in the squad.

I agree Bjarney is okay to have as a squad player, but I think Lansbury is a waste of a squad shirt.

Are we buying someone called Kasim Pasa from a club called Trezeguet or a player called Trezeguet from a club called Kasimpasa?

[Tuscans]

Reims defender Björn Engels in advanced talks according to twit

[Ger Regan]

For the name alone i hope it's true

[mr underhill]

unlikely as he's just been signed full time hasn't he? Anyway I can't believe we need another cb unless Konsa is going to play dm.

[old man villa fan]

I believe what we are creating at the moment is the right way to go by purchasing gifted young players that will show no fear of playing in the premier league.

It is the 'no fear' that will determine if they are a success or not. The Lambert 'young and hungry' were generally overawed by the step up.  Character plays a big part and being able to spot the right amount of confidence, as well as bouncing back from setbacks.

[Clark W Griswold]

He's a big fucker again, that's for sure.
3 at the back? Chester off? Just hedging their bets? Or just plain bullshit?

[Axl Rose]

I keep thinking that we're too reliant on Brentford players, and if they were that good Brentford would have been doing better. However, I had to just remind myself that we've only signed Konza, Jota and Hogan (who seems unlikely to be involved in the EPL squad). This is despite being linked with Henry, Barbet, Benrahma, Sawyers and Maupay off the top of my head. On this basis I'd be happy if Maupay or Benrahma were to come in as well. Going forward, and once we have the pressure of this summer's enormous overhaul out of the way, it would be good to have the recruitment along the lines of Brentford's model, but with young players out on loan to get experience. I notice that Brentford currently have more of their players in England U21/U20/U19 squads than we do.

It might just be that these Brentford players excel and kick on on a bigger stage. They play football the right way I reckon. All comfortable on the ball, the attackers like to beat a player, and they're brimming with confidence. The more the merrier, I reckon.

[AllanW]

After the dust settled on our Wembley win the squad looked like this with young squad players in brackets; loans returned to their own clubs, our loans coming back to us, transfers already agreed coming in etc

GK;       Steer, Kalinic, Nyland, (Sarkic)
CB;       Chester,
LB;       Taylor,
RB;       Guilbert, Elmohamady, (Bree)
DM;       Tshibola,
CM;       McGinn, Hourihane, Bjarnason,
AM;       Grealish, Lansbury, Gardner (O’Hare)
AL;   
AR;       (Green)
ATT;     Kodjia, Davis, Hogan, (Hepburn-Murphy)

Players = 17 (+5)

Squad Costs; year-on-year

(promotion wage increases and bonuses = £10m+ p.a.)
(player clear-out saves >£20m on wages, costs >£4m payoffs = net £16m)

Net benefit in this first year = £6m

Transfers In to date;

Jota             £4m (saves us £1m with Gardner going the other way); wages £2m p.a.
Hause       £3m; wages £1.5m p.a.
El Ghazi       £4.5m; wages £2m p.a. (loan fee comes off gross transfer fee)
Wesley      £22m; wages £3m p.a.
Targett       £17m; wages £2m p.a.
Mings      £20m; wages £3m p.a.
Konsa       £12m; wages £1.5m p.a.

Total to date =    fees £82.5m; wages addition £14m p.a.
This is the squad now;

GK;    Steer, Nyland, Kalinic
CB;    Chester, Hause, Mings, Konsa
LB;    Taylor, Targett
RB;    Guilbert, Elmohamady, (Bree)
DM;   Tshibola,
CM;   McGinn, Hourihane, Bjarnason,
AM;   Grealish, Lansbury, Jota, (O’Hare)
AL;    El Ghazi,
AR;   (Green)
ATT;  Wesley, Kodjia, Davis, Hogan, (Hepburn-Murphy)

Players; 23 (+4)

Not a foot wrong so far, in my opinion. 

This is where we are now as the squad are in pre-season training and travel to ‘Murika. At least 5 new first-team players, probably 6, and a significant squad improvement from before. All good. I’m very happy and really impressed so far. Huge sighs of relief all ‘round. Much of the press traffic (and comment posts) concern the keeper position and defensive midfield. The rumours/bullshit/fantasies still revolve around Phillips of Leeds and some combination of Butland or Heaton but let’s look at the sections of the team.

Our midfield was our strength and we’ve retained McGinn and Grealish, no mean feat. We already had some cover there in Hourihane and we already have some options to be assessed in pre-season in Bjarnason, Tshibola, and Lansbury. The path ahead for these guys would seem to be ‘Fit in, step up or ship out’. I’ve never been impressed by the Phillips hoopla; he’s going nowhere and we certainly should not even begin to think of spunking £30m on him. Plenty of other options out there although I do accept that one of our next steps should be to add an all-action, strong tackling, athletic and tactically-astute DM now that a number of other more important areas have been addressed. Who knows, maybe Deano knows where Konsa is best played and has pulled a cat out of the bag and will play him in front of a centreback pairing of some combination of Mings, Hause, Chester or Tuanzebe (coming back on loan for a year WITH a buy-out clause in tow).

Talking of which, the defence has progressed from threadbare to solid with plenty of options. Young, active, skilful ball-players have been added to an experienced couple (even if Chester needs coddling he’s not out of the picture and will play a useful part). Some real defensive grit has been retained from last year, a massive boost to cohesion and confidence, and even if we don’t look to add our favourite loanee before the season gets underway we should be happy with the activity of the backroom staff in this area. Really happy. We all wanted it and it happened.

In terms of ‘keepers I’ve never been worried about starting the season with Steer; he’s earned his position and I have no doubt will be fine in the PL. I agree with most on here that Kalinic should be got rid of for some decent amount (probably not as much as we paid but see what you can do, Suso). Sarkic has gone on a season-long loan already so Nyland would be okay as a backup now he’s back from injury. IF Etheridge were available for £7m then fine but there is no massive benefit to be added for £25m or £30m for Butland and Stoke are looking to cash in and have the player over a barrel. Call their bluff and wait until January to pick him up for £15m if no-one else has stepped in before then. Either way we’re fine for the time being. Let Jed and the others build a strong connection with the defence without more change.

The front line has been strengthened and developed as well. Significant investment in Wesley and Hassan while retaining players from last year in El Ghazi is a smart move. But let’s spend a bit of time here because I’m still wondering if Deano is looking to emulate the Liverpool attacking style more. I guess we’ll see as the pre-season games develop but I think he’s looking to build striking options which are far more ‘3 strikers’ than ‘1 central striker and 2 wingers’. If so then we are short here and it should be our highest priority now.

The centre of any 3 up front is what Wesley does well. Big tick. Hogan isn’t that sort of player so can’t be seeing anything other than a move on his horizon. Davis IS that sort of player and I’d keep him around the first team to act as understudy to Wesley even if he’s not quite there yet. Hepburn-Murphy needs games so should go out on serious loan for the year. Kodjia is a ‘play-off-the-shoulder-of-the-last-defender’ sort trying to get behind the defence; totally the wrong sort to be the prime backup to Wesley. However he might play a part in the backup tactic to 3 strikers which is ‘two up front’.

Kodjia is also no longer fast enough or wily enough to operate as a wide striker in the PL, in my opinion. He might have got away with it in the Championship but he will not be allowed to in the PL. The full backs are far faster and stronger. So his only real value is very limited, I fear. El Ghazi can play on either the right or the left so has great value in this scheme for Deano. Green is not ready for the PL so the question is whether he goes on loan or stays as cover. I’d say loan, for sure. Jota, I’m convinced, has not been bought primarily to operate as a right-sided winger, he proved to be less than useful in the Championship out wide BUT he could be a perfect foil to El Ghazi as part of a front 3, linking and interchanging across the park. Creativity is his strong suit and I can see him doing it in a front 3 IF we can properly cover the defensive duties he will be neglecting while being pushed so far forward and creating as many chances as he scores.

All of which means that for a ‘3 strikers’ formation we have 3 players who fit, Davis as cover but 3 others who are misfits or not ready yet. Nowhere near what we need so this is where the whole Trezeguet/Benrahma/Bowen/Lolley topic fits in. We need one of them in before the season starts. Preferably with one of Hogan/Green/Lansbury going in the other direction either sold or on loan.

I’m still hoping that a Bid for Bale is being discussed now in hushed tones in darkened rooms. That would make my day. Can you imagine Bale at VP? How many shirts would we sell worldwide?

The backup formation could be ‘2 up front’, withdrawing the wide players into a genuine midfield/more defensive positioning 4 across the middle. El Ghazi can do this but Green, Kodjia and Jota cannot. Elmo would need to step into midfield here on the right. BUT what it allows Deano to do is play either Kodjia or Jota or O’Hare off Wesley (or Davis) as the point man. That may be why we keep Kodjia around and is certainly why I’d be looking very hard at O’Hare because I rate him. This could be the season he breaks through.

So the discussion remains ‘Who NEEDS to come in from here?’ From the above points;
Still to come; 4
1 x Flexible, goal-scoring striker, comfortable on either flank in a front 3,
Then 1 from; Defensive midfielder or cheaper ‘Keeper
AND
2 loans like Tuanzebe or some options for the above from the Continent;

Total =      fees £112.5m; wages +£24m p.a.

Players = 25 (+6) or 9 players added net although expect a couple leaving on loan or swap/sale.
I’ll leave others to do the work on Home-grown, Qualified etc for squad declaration purposes. The key point is that a good number of them are not new to the team so adjustments and rebuilding will not be anywhere near as problematic as, for example, Fulham found last season.  The other major reason why this looks nothing like Fulham last year is that the team shape and team style is consistent from Deano and the staff. The genuinely new guys will be looking to fit into that shape not everyone learning a new one from scratch. I’m nowhere near as worried as Sky pundits are about our chances. Breaking News; they’re full of it.

This transfer window is presumably affordable, not risky with FFP, retains as much team cohesion as possible with 3 of the defence plus some attack returning but adds quality, gives a solid platform for the crucial first part of new season, develops attacking style using wide strikers not just wingers, provides cover where we need it (don’t forget Hause can play left back and Guilbert can play centre back, let’s see what Hourihane, Tshibola Bjarnason and Lansbury can do). Allows the options of Kodjia, Jota and O’Hare as second striker if Deano wants.

It’s a decently-sized squad with only meagre backup, no question about that, but it IS one capable of playing attractive football and staying up in this first year barring major injuries. This is not relegation material. The January window could address any deficiencies and secure survival while the 2 loans or frees would provide some cover for the most lean positions.

A squad like that would be good to watch for our first season back and I’d be ecstatic.

[Clark W Griswold]

Errr, agreed.