Summer transfer, gossip, speculation and the usual butter ollocks thread

[Jon Crofts]

Ramseys on 400k a week.

Lira though right?

[Dante Lavelli]

Talking of Brentford you have to be impressed by their simple but effective strategy:  Got fed up of coaching yoof players only to lose them to bigger clubs for minimal compensation, consequently they scrapped the youth team and focused on signing released academy graduates from the same clubs.

For villa you think we are the biggest fish in the midlands pool (historically at least) so should have clout in taking the cream from other youth systems in the area.  But for that to work we need to develop a system to turn a youth plater into a first team plater to attract talent.

[Small Rodent]

If, as people say, Watkins can play across the front. Is he better than El-Ghazi or Trezeguet in those positions?

If so, it makes sense with another striker.

[Dante Lavelli]

I’d have Watkins and Wes fight to out for the main striker role and spend £40m on a real wide forward (no idea who).

[Steve67]

Milot Rashica rumours seem to be gathering pace. Twitter! Truth or bullshit?

[LukeJames]

Nakamba put up a social media photo earlier with himself and Rashica on. I suspect the rumours are from people jumping to conclusions over this.

[AsTallAsLions]

Milot Rashica rumours seem to be gathering pace. Twitter! Truth or bullshit?

I'd love to be wrong, but I think they're probably unfounded. He wants a move to Leipzig, people are clutching at straws because Nakamba posted a #tbt photo of the two of them on Instagram from when they used to play together. No hints in the caption or anything else to suggest he's coming here, so I highly doubt it

[Brazilian Villain]

Milot Rashica rumours seem to be gathering pace. Twitter! Truth or bullshit?

Was just about to ask the same. On the surface it looks like he wants to go to Leipzig. Haven't seen him but my uncle's watched him a bit and is uncharacteristically excited at the prospect.

[DrGonzo]

Any actual physical evidence that we are after any player from Brentford? Is this just an existential argument brought about by a lack of anything better to discuss?  Personally I am glad that we seem to be trying to implement a more advanced scouting and hiring system that might mean we begin to look beyond the massively overpriced product available in Britain. 

[Stu]

Anyone else sub to The Athletic? Article there reckons we're looking to raid Brentford rather than Juventus.

Article:

Sensible Transfers: Villa look to Brentford to bolster attacking threat

By Gregg Evans and Alex Stewart

Aston Villa’s transfer priorities are clear. Not only do they want to address the shortage of goals from up front, but they also recognise the need for more pace and increased competition across the board.

The club are preparing for another big-spending summer after clinging on to their Premier League place. As much as £80 million could be invested on strengthening their ranks, with two or three signings expected to go straight into Dean Smith’s strongest starting XI and a couple of others targeted to freshen up the squad.

Ollie Watkins (above) is high up on the target list and Villa hope they can get him for less than £20 million following his Brentford side’s loss in the Championship play-off final.

Villa boss Dean Smith worked with the now 24-year-old striker while in charge at Brentford and also put him forward last season, but the newly-promoted club couldn’t get a deal done and moved on to other targets. The Athletic understands they will push harder this time and be more competitive, in general, with transfer fees and wages. They face competition from other Premier League clubs, including Crystal Palace. Having scored 26 goals in 50 games for Brentford last season, he looks ready to test himself in the Premier League.

Villa are also interested in Watkins’s Griffin Park team-mate Said Benrahma — another they have tracked before. They did not increase their offer of £14 million to meet Brentford’s £20 million asking price for the forward last summer, and after an impressive season in the Championship, 25-year-old Benrahma will now be worth considerably more. Villa may choose to look elsewhere if the price remains too high.

With last summer’s £22 million club-record signing Wesley Moraes expected to return to training before the start of the new season after a nine-month knee-injury lay-off, Villa will have another source of goals to which they can turn, but they may still look to recruit two new forwards. Watkins can play as a central striker or out wide, which is why he appeals.

New sporting director Johan Lange will be tasked with providing alternative options following his arrival at the start of the month. The hope is that Lange already has players on his radar who can come straight in and improve Villa’s first team.

If they are recruited for small fees and turn out to be bargain buys, that’s simply a bonus. But the focus is not so much on signing players who can be sold on for a profit in the future. Rather, it’s about finding tried and tested performers who can complement the current team and help build on what looks a relatively strong base.

Pace is needed higher up the pitch and in wide areas. It’s why Villa are also looking at wing-backs. Max Aarons of Norwich City is well thought of despite their instant relegation back to the Championship, as is Rico Henry, another Brentford player Smith has first-hand knowledge of. Reading’s Omar Richards has also been mentioned.

There’s also a desire for an experienced midfielder with Premier League know-how. Nathaniel Chalobah may come back into contention after Watford’s relegation from the Premier League — Villa have asked about him in the past.

A transfer window wouldn’t be the same without Crystal Palace’s James McCarthy being linked with a move to Villa Park. The 29-year-old might actually join one day and if signed for around £5 million, it would be a smart deal to strengthen Smith’s options.

Villa will likely move some of their fringe players on and sign younger replacements. Henri Lansbury turns 30 a month into the new season and hasn’t contributed enough, Scott Hogan has no future at the club, and Jota rarely featured last season so may consider a move away if there’s interest. Marvelous Nakamba has also been linked away with a move to Turkish side Trabzonspor.

Much of Villa’s other transfer business depends on whether Jack Grealish stays or goes.

The captain, who turns 25 just before 2020-21 kicks off, is open to a move but the club are in a strong position to put up resistance to offers they feel fall below their valuation of £80 million. Villa know it would be bordering on impossible to replace Grealish, although if he does go, the money they get for him is likely to be reinvested over the next two windows.

A player who now looks out of their reach is Werder Bremen’s attacking midfielder Milot Rashica. He was discussed last season and understood to have been on the radar although it was quickly accepted that he was likely to move elsewhere.

As part of our Sensible Transfers feature, The Athletic recommends Leicester City’s Demarai Gray as a useful addition.

The 24-year-old is not getting enough game time at King Power Stadium four years after joining the club and needs a move to kick-start his career. Villa need new additions out wide and we think he would fit the bill.

Tifo’s suggested striker: Joel Pohjanpalo (Bayer Leverkusen)

Aston Villa’s requirement for goals, pace, and versatility makes sense — the defence and midfield tightened up hugely after the restart in June to keep them above the drop zone, but goals remained hard to come by and too much reliance has been placed on Jack Grealish to create and finish.

Tifo’s selection is Joel Pohjanpalo, a 25-year-old Bayer Leverkusen striker who had a good spell on loan with Hamburg in Germany’s second tier last season, scoring nine goals in 909 minutes. He’s a busy, bustling type who likes to carry the ball, which suits Villa’s sit-deep, break-fast approach. The Finland international has also played wide right and as a second striker, which would give Dean Smith options in attack.

According to Statsbomb, he managed a creditable 3.1 shots per 90 minutes with 1.4 on target in his 14 games for Hamburg. It’s not a massive shot volume, but he’s also intelligent in his movement and positioning, which explains the good goal return in limited minutes. He’s also a useful physical threat, 5ft 10in tall and stocky, good in the air and brave when contesting headers in the box, and he presses well — he’s generally the sort of nuisance who gives teams a bit of edge and presence up front, while also possessing an interesting skill set.

Leverkusen play with one striker through the middle, and with youngster Paulinho improving and Kevin Volland the incumbent, Pohjanpalo would probably be deemed surplus to requirements.

[KevinGage]

That tifo strategy is an interesting selection. 

Most papers make up the links as they go along, so this is a different spin on it.

The first two thirds of that post are essentially a reworking of the Sun and Mirror's speculation (with no quotes or timescales to do a deal) from over the weekend.  Something Smegg used to do all too often at the Birmingham Mail. No fresh info at all.  Old habits and all that.

[Stu]

Lol.

I am so cancelling my sub now.

[KevinGage]

Haha.  The Athletic is generally good apart from that. 

But it's odd they went after a copy and paste merchant like Evans when it looks like they tapped up all the best writers from other regional and national papers.

[Stu]

Haha.  The Athletic is generally good apart from that. 

But it's odd they went after a copy and paste merchant like Evans when it looks like they tapped up all the best writers from other regional and national papers.

I haven't read the local paper for years, but I know the standard of journalism is low. He wrote a cracking article about the last decade we suffered a few days ago and wonder if the Mail just isn't after the sort of stories he is interested in writing. That said, my experience of journalism is from US crime dramas where the journos are kept down by the 'man' that owns the paper.

[RamboandBruno]

If Brentford we’re not expected to go up automatically or through play offs, got themselves in a position to do both, but did neither and are bottlers, does that mean we bottled it in 89-90 and 92-93....or just ran out of steam....

There’s been a general discussion on here throughout the season about how shite Wes (open to debate obviously) is and how we should of bought Maupay, but now Ollie Watkins isn’t good enough for us, despite scoring more goals for the same Brentford.  I can see the attraction of being linked with bigger names, but I think whatever our size as a club, we just escaped relegation and might not be as attractive to those bigger names as we all think, not for another year or so anyway.
If we get Watkins, Benhrama, Callum Wilson and then the new sporting director pulls a centre midfielder and left back out of the bag, then we might have to be satisfied for now.