Summer 2025 Transfer Window - hopes, speculation, rumours etc.

[Dave]

Optics absolutely matter - players, both internally, and externally, look at what clubs do and so do their agents. If Villa look like they are prepared to sell their star players - arguably the highest profile one right now - at the last minute of the transfer window it clearly gives the impression of a stepping stone team.

Like all but one or two of the million or so clubs around the world are?

Oh no.

[Sexual Ealing]

Optics absolutely matter - players, both internally, and externally, look at what clubs do and so do their agents. If Villa look like they are prepared to sell their star players - arguably the highest profile one right now - at the last minute of the transfer window it clearly gives the impression of a stepping stone team.

We are a stepping stone team.

[PaulWinch again]

If we got £80m for Rogers and got 2 players in for £30m each (no idea who) would that be such a bad thing if they were decent? Or we could just play Male. And Guessand rather than buy them and stick them in a bin

Yes it would - selling Rogers now is really bad from a footballing point of view, and absolutely cataclysmic from an optics point of view. He’s just won Young Player of the Year, selling him - particularly this close to the end of the window - is basically saying we’ve tapped out. Also his value will only go up.

I do not, in any universe, want to sell Rogers, especially for £80m, but why on earth should optics matter? Who would we be telling that we'd tapped out, and what difference would it make if we somehow kept winning?

And, saying his value is only going up is not really a good argument,  and playing Nostradamus.

Nobody knows.

At certain points in their careers, you could have said the same about Bailey, Diaby , Duran etc.


I think Bailey’s value dropped in his last year with us. Maybe we sold Duran and Diaby at their highest values even though plenty were against those sales.

I’m not in favour or against a sale. Unai just needs to decide what he wants to do. 

Well it’s not really playing Nostradamus. Obviously his value could go down or up, but the likelihood is it’ll go up. He’s young, got a long time left on his deal, is highly likely to go to a World Cup, and has attributes that are pretty desirable in a player. He might get injured of course, but it would take sustained bad form to have any negative impact on his value. So it might go down, but the odds are it’ll goes up.

[frank black]

Yep , we are an attractive team for players looking to play premier league football and get into their international team. But not for those looking to win a major trophy. So it’s inevitable we’ll attract a certain profile of player on the way up or down the ladder.

[PaulWinch again]

Optics absolutely matter - players, both internally, and externally, look at what clubs do and so do their agents. If Villa look like they are prepared to sell their star players - arguably the highest profile one right now - at the last minute of the transfer window it clearly gives the impression of a stepping stone team.

We are a stepping stone team.

Perhaps, but it’s not been the way we’ve been acting or what the ambitions of the owners have been.

[PaulWinch again]

Anyhow enough about selling our best players - we’ve done enough through the out door. A few in please.

[Tuscans]

Unai Emery is still targeting "two to three" signings as #AVFC aim to strengthen the squad before Monday's transfer deadline. Emery has the final and major say on signings but Villa remain tight on UEFA financial restrictions.

@TheAthleticFC

Unai Emery: "Some players as well are now in the squad and I think they are going to stay with us. Maybe two months ago, we were expecting they were more closer to leaving than staying here with us."

“But we have to adapt quick. We are not expecting something special for the last three days around letting some players leave in the last two to three days. We are expecting to add us some players, because we need to improve only for numbers in the squad with the players we will want for the season, and now we need two or three players more. This is the idea.”

[PaulWinch again]

Fingers crossed - bring Marco back.

[Steve67]

Marco, winger, centre back.  Clearly we are keeping the likes of Buendia, Cash.

[Sexual Ealing]

Optics absolutely matter - players, both internally, and externally, look at what clubs do and so do their agents. If Villa look like they are prepared to sell their star players - arguably the highest profile one right now - at the last minute of the transfer window it clearly gives the impression of a stepping stone team.

We are a stepping stone team.

Perhaps, but it’s not been the way we’ve been acting or what the ambitions of the owners have been.

We can act however we want. We're a stepping stone team.

[PaulWinch again]

Ok to put it in slightly less binary terms - there are probably about 2 or 3 clubs at any one time that aren’t prey to anyone else. Beneath that there are a host of tiers that are pretty interchangeable, but optics or the perception of a team is pretty important to where you sit in those tiers.

[Sexual Ealing]

Not even nearly as much as results.

I'm not being obtuse. If we start winning games, nobody gives a fuck who we didn't sign.

[Proposition Joe]

Optics absolutely matter - players, both internally, and externally, look at what clubs do and so do their agents. If Villa look like they are prepared to sell their star players - arguably the highest profile one right now - at the last minute of the transfer window it clearly gives the impression of a stepping stone team.

We are a stepping stone team.

For players.

And a graveyard for managers ...

[PaulWinch again]

Not even nearly as much as results.

I'm not being obtuse. If we start winning games, nobody gives a fuck who we didn't sign.

Maybe not, and I’m not being obtuse either, but I think who we sell and when does matter (it also probably impacts how often we win in the longer-term). But who knows, it’s subjective obviously.

[Sexual Ealing]

I think I invented a new tense with my last post so I'm buzzing.