Ross Barkley

[KevinGage]

Aye, Southgate, Barry, James at one point.

And Dublin, Merson and Southgate may have been on the pitch when Hendrie made his debut.

[rob_bridge]

He has 33 England caps.

He was brilliant for Everton, and has done ok for Chelsea. For where we are right now he's a good signing and adds to the first team squad.

I'm pleased.

We now have three current England internationals in the side.

Cant recall that ever happening before. Probably goes back to the 1800s!

Ah just checked, Euro qualifiers 83/4, Sid, Morley and Withe

Milner, Young, Heskey, James, plus one other I seem to recall.

James left in 2001. Milner was 15 and Young was in Watford's youth team.

[SoccerHQ]

Pretty sure Downing, Bent and Young all started for England v Wales in a euro 2012 qualifier when they were all here.

[maidstonevillain]

He has 33 England caps.

He was brilliant for Everton, and has done ok for Chelsea. For where we are right now he's a good signing and adds to the first team squad.

I'm pleased.

We now have three current England internationals in the side.

Cant recall that ever happening before. Probably goes back to the 1800s!

Ah just checked, Euro qualifiers 83/4, Sid, Morley and Withe

Milner, Young, Heskey, James, plus one other I seem to recall.

James left in 2001. Milner was 15 and Young was in Watford's youth team.

Forget James, and put in Barry.

[maidstonevillain]

Pretty sure Downing, Bent and Young all started for England v Wales in a euro 2012 qualifier when they were all here.

I'm sure I recall there were 5 Villa players on the pitch for England in a game around about 2012. They didn't all start.

[Chris Smith]

A player I’ve always found a bit underwhelming in spite of or perhaps because of the hype. Hoping to be convinced that I misjudged him.

[SoccerHQ]

A player I’ve always found a bit underwhelming in spite of or perhaps because of the hype. Hoping to be convinced that I misjudged him.

There is a bit of Tom Cleverley vibes about it given he's mid 20s now and it hasn't worked out for him at a top 6 club.

Still for where we are it's a very decent signing to continue building upwards.

It's surprising how often he's started for England in last 2 years so Southgate in his wisdom rates him higher than Grealish and there's still a chance he could make the euros squad if he plays well enough for us.

[Dante Lavelli]

What are the loan rules?  Is there a limit on how many a club can make and where from?

[maidstonevillain]

What are the loan rules?  Is there a limit on how many a club can make and where from?

Only one from the same club.

[brian green]

Bang goes getting Tammy back.

[enigma]

Very happy with this one. It means Jack isn't our sole source of creativity. He's very skilful, can beat a man and chip in with a few goals.

I really like the look of our midfield now. That first 11 is starting to look hugely improved over last season.

[chrisw1]

Bang goes getting Tammy back.

Bearing in mind he started and scored in their last league game I'd say that chance had already gone anyway.

[Smithy]

My big wish for this summer was that we'd be signing players to improve the first 11, rather than building a squad like last season - Barkley is just the latest example of us doing just that, and I couldn't be happier (well, I could, obviously, I'm a Villa fan after all, but I'm at a level of happiness I'm relatively unfamiliar with in recent times)

[Matt C]

Bang goes getting Tammy back.

On loan at least.

[brontebilly]

Not a fan of Barkley really. I also think we are overloaded in terms of attacking midfielders with a gaping hole in LB and LCM. Huge pressure now on Luiz, if as seems likely, he will be the only holding midfielder with two of McGinn, Barkley and Hourihane in front. Think we will really struggle to play through the lines with that formation and also, even as exposed at times against Fulham, our midfield will struggle to stop teams playing against us.

Big opportunity for Barkley with us to get his career back on track but think the budget could/should have gone elsewhere.