Jhon Durán - signed

[john e]

It’s not the end of the world for me because I like Duran he has been and will be a very useful player to have around
Whether he can integrate back into the squad and into Unai’s good books is another thing of course

[paul_e]

It’s not the end of the world for me because I like Duran he has been and will be a very useful player to have around
Whether he can integrate back into the squad and into Unai’s good books is another thing of course

I wouldn't be surprised if this is why the club have acted as they have. The guy has a screw loose and almost certainly has annoyed the shit out of people but he's also a fantastic prospect who played an important role for us pretty regularly last year.

[Rigadon]

It sounds to me that we have a valuation and we've stuck to it - that's refreshing as far as I'm concerned.  The ludicrous crossed-arm / twitter thing could've been an attempt to force a move through at a lower price - if so it's seemingly backfired on Duran.  Or it could've been a player who'd been told (by his agent?) that the move was all done and dusted (but actually wasn't).  Whatever, he might well be a fantastic centre forward in a year so it's good we've stuck to our guns on the cost.

[pablo_picasso]

You said we were being greedy. Besides, no-one really knows what we wanted or what was actually offered. If we thought he was worth x amount, its up to the other team to pay it.

It’s a negotiation sometimes you come out on top sometimes you don’t
I know you’re in the camp where Villa never make any mistakes and are always perfect negotiators but that’s not real life

If we want to get rid of a player and they offered 30+ mill for Duran plus a young player and we turned it down because we thought we could get more, and we don’t we could end up regretting now
and although you think it’s your duty to always come to the defence of Villa in all things they might well have fucked up on this one, it’s a simple as that really

And don’t say no one knows what really happens because that’s the case for virtually everything we post on here
No one could post a single thing if that was the criteria

I don't think that I could be accused of being in the "Villa can do no wrong" camp, but for me, I genuinely see nothing wrong with what we have done.

I think that we have killed a couple of birds with one stone by holding firm.

Firstly, I genuinely don't believe that West Ham offered £35M plus the player in a format that was acceptable to Villa.

Sounds obvious, & I have no idea exactly how much or the actual structure that was offered, but a good structure for £35M+, plus that player, sell on fees/clauses, etc, & I think we probably would have accepted it.

But with West Ham leaking to the media every five minutes trying to get us to lower the price even more, I think we were right to hold out & send out the message that we aren't going to be a soft touch when negotiating anymore. Especially to clubs lower in the pecking order like West Ham & that disgusting little porno rat Sullivan.

We also sent out the message that even if a player dicks about like Duran has with his crossed arms bullshit, that will not force a move for the player at a lower price. This was the key message to send out, as players have a lot of control these days with shit like this when clubs buckle. And Duran was the perfect player to do that with because we know that he has been twerking in Chelseas direction for over 12 months, yet has been able backup for Watkins when needed.

It's not in his best interests to play like shit, otherwise the only London club that he is going to play for is QPR, at best.

And if nobody comes in for him, he's still young enough to mature & become an effective player for Villa if anything happens to Watkins or he waits a year or two.

If he really wanted to leave, he would put in a transfer request.

If he did that, I think we might wiggle on the price a little.

So I have no issues whatsoever with how we have dealt with the Duran summer saga.

[chrisw1]

I’m not convinced Orford was ever a realistic option or that he would have come.  I wouldn’t criticise the club for not accepting a deal that probably was never seriously available.

[nigel]

⬆️
Great post pablo.

[LeeB]

Also with the bigger picture in mind, we don't cave in as soon as a player starts acting up.

[Risso]

Yeah, we’re not the Labour government..

[eamonn]

What childish nonsense?

Clampy, accused of being a happy-clapper since the days of Randolph Lerner.

[Dick Edwards]

And West Ham think a 32 year old is better value at £27m so hopefully their judgement of buying strikers in recent years is continuing along the same vein.

[VillaTim]

I imagine the Porn baron is still pissed off handing us £15M for Danny Ings

[john2710]

Nobody knows what was offered nor what we'd accept. West Ham might have offered £20m for all we know or we might want £50m. My guess is West Ham were offering well below what we want.

It's up to other clubs to temp us. If nobody does, then I'm ok with him staying.

[dave.woodhall]

We've got a player. Another club want him. We set a price and if they pay it, we've got the money. If they don't, we keep the player. Either way we win.

[john e]

I hope we keep him if he can be a happy bunny staying and we can be forgiving

[Rigadon]

We've got a player. Another club want him. We set a price and if they pay it, we've got the money. If they don't, we keep the player. Either way we win.

Exactly this.  For once in a long time we hold the cards.  Fuck em.