Summer Transfer Thread and Gustavo Cisneros Type Rumours.

[dave.woodhall]

It wouldn't really feel like a return. He's been gone so long and done so much elsewhere that I don't think of him as a former Villa player. Plus, the youngest squad with the longest contracts. We could do a lot worse than an old head experienced in seeing out games. 

[OCD]

I suspect it's just paper talk but I think it could make a valuable contribution on and off the field. Some short-term deals may be necessary if we feel that some of the kids will come through but need more time. Chrisene may be one of those for left back. As others have said a bit of experience may be good too.

[jwarry]

What the video shows is that he's still got the technical ability that made him a top player and he reads the game so well that he doesn't need to have the pace he did 10 years ago.

And bizarrely he has more hair!

[SoccerHQ]

I think the other important thing to remember here is that, if Kalinic and Hourihane leave as we expect, our oldest player is 28 and we were already the youngest squad in the league when Heaton, Elmo and Taylor were propping up the average. We are one of a few clubs that can afford to have a couple of older heads in the squad who only play 1 game in 3/4 but are there to help build the winning mentality in the squad and give us experienced cover whilst a few youngsters develop more.

Interesting. I though there was more need for Matic or Gary Cahill types in key positions when we came up in 2019 tbh. I think we'd have been safe 3-4 games before final day if we'd got a couple of those types in.

Now though I think likes of Mings, Grealish and Jack have grown together as a group in premier league and a few of them will pass 100 prem games this season so that's plenty enough at this level.

If we are getting some in back up in defence makes sense. Said it before but I'd look at someone like Saiss who can play in back 3, LB and even cover at DM so example of experienced player who can cover many different positions.

Also watching Germany and Kevin Volland came on. Had a good scoring record down the years at Leverkusen. No idea how he's done at Monaco but given they also have Ben Yedder and cash issues in French league they might move him on. 29 and would be good CF backup.

Edit: 17 goals for Monaco last season so they won't be selling.

Wonder if we'll look at Moussa Dembele (the striker). Played in Britain before and was highly rated at Celtic. Lyon wanting to sell now and his move to Atletico Madrid hasn't worked out so could be similar to Traore last summer.

[cdbearsfan]

It wouldn't really feel like a return. He's been gone so long and done so much elsewhere that I don't think of him as a former Villa player. Plus, the youngest squad with the longest contracts. We could do a lot worse than an old head experienced in seeing out games.

He would also be playing in a position that, I don't think, he ever played in for us.

Danny Rose has signed for Watford, not sure if that means they're no longer after Young.

[SoccerHQ]

It wouldn't really feel like a return. He's been gone so long and done so much elsewhere that I don't think of him as a former Villa player. Plus, the youngest squad with the longest contracts. We could do a lot worse than an old head experienced in seeing out games.

He would also be playing in a position that, I don't think, he ever played in for us.

Danny Rose has signed for Watford, not sure if that means they're no longer after Young.

Indeed, just seen that. Two year deal. No idea who their LB was coming back up (is Masina still there) but would suggest they're well stocked now at LB and no way Young can play left wing anymore in premier league.

[PaulWinch again]

I’d suspect that’s probably a reasonable conclusion to draw.

[Dante Lavelli]

Has Young played much as an actual full-back? Mainly wing back under conte and with England.

[paul_e]

I think the other important thing to remember here is that, if Kalinic and Hourihane leave as we expect, our oldest player is 28 and we were already the youngest squad in the league when Heaton, Elmo and Taylor were propping up the average. We are one of a few clubs that can afford to have a couple of older heads in the squad who only play 1 game in 3/4 but are there to help build the winning mentality in the squad and give us experienced cover whilst a few youngsters develop more.

Interesting. I though there was more need for Matic or Gary Cahill types in key positions when we came up in 2019 tbh. I think we'd have been safe 3-4 games before final day if we'd got a couple of those types in.

Now though I think likes of Mings, Grealish and Jack have grown together as a group in premier league and a few of them will pass 100 prem games this season so that's plenty enough at this level.

If we are getting some in back up in defence makes sense. Said it before but I'd look at someone like Saiss who can play in back 3, LB and even cover at DM so example of experienced player who can cover many different positions.

Also watching Germany and Kevin Volland came on. Had a good scoring record down the years at Leverkusen. No idea how he's done at Monaco but given they also have Ben Yedder and cash issues in French league they might move him on. 29 and would be good CF backup.

Edit: 17 goals for Monaco last season so they won't be selling.

Wonder if we'll look at Moussa Dembele (the striker). Played in Britain before and was highly rated at Celtic. Lyon wanting to sell now and his move to Atletico Madrid hasn't worked out so could be similar to Traore last summer.

I think the difference is that when we came up we needed to build the long term backbone of a squad so they decided to focus on players with similar levels of experience and game time so they could grow together but with a few older heads to help them along (Taylor, Elmo and Heaton), many more older players and we'd have run the risk of filling the team with them and not giving enough chances for the younger players to develop. Now that we have 2 years of experience the focus shifts to building depth in the squad. We clearly have high hopes for the youth cup team but for most of them jumping from that to being part of the first team squad is too big a leap so what we need is players that fill the gap.

If we sign a 27-28 year old then both parties would be looking at a 3-4 year deal to maximise the value of the transfer and that becomes a big roadblock, someone in the 32+ age range would be more likely to agree a 1-2 year deal which gives us more space to review things every window for a couple of years.

I'm not saying we should ignore players at that age but rather that we should consider what works in each specific case.

For full backs Seb Revan and Kesler look like good prospects so Young in for 1-2 years to give them more time to develop would be a decent deal, the same in midfield where Chuk will be breaking through regardless but we could just do with an extra option to make sure we don't NEED him to breakthrough.

[eamonn]

What the video shows is that he's still got the technical ability that made him a top player and he reads the game so well that he doesn't need to have the pace he did 10 years ago.

And bizarrely he has more hair!

The rain in Milan falls mainly on the head.

[VinnieChase84]

Some truth to AY links. We've lost experienced heads in the dressing room (Heaton, Elmo, Taylor) so he does fit the bill (can cover tons of areas)

[eamonn]

Any idea how far it's got to Vinnie? i.e does he have straight choice between us and other PL clubs?

[Toronto Villa]

The links to other clubs were Burnley and Watford. Watford got Rose so I reckon they are out. If it’s between us and Burnley he’s not choosing them

[VinnieChase84]

Any idea how far it's got to Vinnie? i.e does he have straight choice between us and other PL clubs?

No idea im afraid. He does have a number of options i believe (plus hes just one of a couple for us as well)

[aev]

We have bid £25m for Smith-Rowe according to the Athletic.