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

[eamonn]

Weston McKennie, American midfielder playing for Schalke being linked.

Seems a big lad, who is box to box. Southampton have been linked with him previously.

Sounds like a character from The Last Dance.

[ADVILLAFAN]

Aren't Schalke and Valencia both selling off all their players?

[SoccerHQ]

Aren't Schalke and Valencia both selling off all their players?

Would take Gameiro off Valencia no problem. Generally had a good scoring record wherever he's been. Maxi Gomez of course also linked last summer.

[JJ-AV]

FWIW I thought our major failing last summer, when combined with the unavoidable fact we'd had to buy an entire team, was that we didn't buy anyone with a decent amount of premier league experience (bar Heaton).

That's something we need to avoid repeating this summer.

Completely agree. A couple of the free transfers would have helped. Vertonghen, Hendrick and Lallana were ideal for me.

[eamonn]

Two of those may have broken our wage structure (Adam and Jan).

[ozzjim]

A couple of freebies would help no end if they are decent quality. Trouble is Lallana is always injured, Vertonghen got a 3 year deal from Benfica and wanted a challenge away from England, and Hendrick will be on a decent wedge and is not that good.

[Hookeysmith]

[/quote]

I don’t rate him at all, he looks bang average but can hit a free kick.
[/quote]

So no upgrade on Hourihane then !

We need better than this im afraid - especially after looking at the daunting fixtures at the start and end of the seaon - we really need a decent start to get some momentum

[pauliewalnuts]

FWIW I thought our major failing last summer, when combined with the unavoidable fact we'd had to buy an entire team, was that we didn't buy anyone with a decent amount of premier league experience (bar Heaton).

That's something we need to avoid repeating this summer.

I don't think it needs to be specifically Premier League experience though, and I'm thinking really of Moutinho at Wolves, a quality player that has played in top leagues and still has a bit to give.

Fair point, that too would make a difference.

[Damo70]

A couple of freebies would help no end if they are decent quality. Trouble is Lallana is always injured, Vertonghen got a 3 year deal from Benfica and wanted a challenge away from England, and Hendrick will be on a decent wedge and is not that good.

I wouldn't say Vertonghen wanted a challenge away from England. On the contrary at the age of 33 he wanted less of a challenge at one of the big three clubs in a three team league.

[LeeB]

I don’t rate him at all, he looks bang average but can hit a free kick.
[/quote]

So no upgrade on Hourihane then !

We need better than this im afraid - especially after looking at the daunting fixtures at the start and end of the seaon - we really need a decent start to get some momentum
[/quote]

Spot on with regards to Hourihane, and yes, we need better and to be fair the links to Rashika and McKennie suggests we're shopping more in the Mailbox rather than Oasis Market.

[villadelph]

I may be a little anxious, but with three or four weeks until the next campaign kicks off I hope we can get some deals done and develop this squad sooner rather than later.

I don't want to see another year where we blame the first two months on players getting used to one another.

[Mister E]

Benhrama, Watkins, C Wilson and Buendia - these are a few of my favourite things [at the moment].
3 of these plus a CMF and a LB, and we're done!

Please make it so.

[Dick Edwards]

I may be in a minority here but I don't want to see a load of new players arrive this summer. It takes time to build a quality squad and the majority of the players bought last summer will be all the better for year's Premier League experience. A midfield player and three forwards with pace and finishing ability, assuming we buy quality to replace who we have in those positions already, will transform our results.
We can then look to strengthen the defensive positions next summer.

Quality, not quantity in the next month please Villa. Oh, and of course retain the quality we already have, Jack in particular.

[gpbarr]

I may be a little anxious, but with three or four weeks until the next campaign kicks off I hope we can get some deals done and develop this squad sooner rather than later.

I don't want to see another year where we blame the first two months on players getting used to one another.

I think we are already in that territory. 23 days left till kick off and I'd be surprised to see any incomings this week. It's looking increasingly like we will need the current squad to step up and prove that their first year was an acclimation while any new players we do sign (I don't think it will be more than 2-3) take some time to bed in.

[brontebilly]

I may be in a minority here but I don't want to see a load of new players arrive this summer. It takes time to build a quality squad and the majority of the players bought last summer will be all the better for year's Premier League experience. A midfield player and three forwards with pace and finishing ability, assuming we buy quality to replace who we have in those positions already, will transform our results.
We can then look to strengthen the defensive positions next summer.

Quality, not quantity in the next month please Villa. Oh, and of course retain the quality we already have, Jack in particular.

A numbers of players in the first eleven or bench aren't good enough though. As demonstrated by a woeful points total and goals conceded total last season. I really don't get the point that our defence doesn't need strengthening.

Some players may improve (Luiz, McGinn) but I'd be very suspect of how much improvement is in a number of others (Targett, Samatta, Wesley). Plus the likes of Taylor, Lansbury, Jota, Nyland who are nowhere near good enough for this level still here as squad filler.

We can't be expecting Grealish, if he stays, to carry the team singlehandedly like he did for most of last season. I'd be of the view we need urgent surgery (LB, CM, RW, CF) to that squad to avoid another long relegation battle. Hence I'm more than a little worried that we have started pre season without a single signing and all kinds of speculation about whether our best player is staying or going.