Winter 25-26 Transfer Window - hopes, speculation, rumours etc.

[Drummond]

Bowen and Gibbs-White would be good. If West Ham went down I'd take Summerville too. We'd be well sorted.

[Dave]

Summerville feels like the right sort of age / experience / profile that Emery could probably do something very decent with.

[TheToffnar]

West Ham supporting mate said Bowen has made it known that if they go down he is off, I know it may be more than we could manage but he is just what we need, he's a leader too.

He'll be on his last big contract, with little resale value (he'll be 30 in December).  I'd love him at the club, and think he'd be decent for at least a couple of seasons, but I don't see it happening, unfortunately.  He could become a 'maybe' if we get Champions League football, I suppose.  But he would cost a fair bit (unless he has a generous relegation release clause), and his wages would be high (he's already on £150k a week).

He feels like a Spurs-style signing - in the same vein as their James Maddison signing - if he were to move.  I think we're more in the market for a Jarrod Bowen of 2020 signings.  Mid-twenties, £20-30m. We tried it with Guessand, it didn't work, but I think these are the sort of gambles we have to take these days.

Indeed. Like him a lot, he'd certainly do a job for us and is somewhat the picture of an Emery signing (older, more experienced and has great utility), but it's kind of the opposite of where we should be going, given our already ageing, expensive squad.

[Duncan Shaw]

Summerville feels like the right sort of age / experience / profile that Emery could probably do something very decent with.

I think we were linked before he went there as well, weren't we?

[VILLA MOLE]

Summerville feels like the right sort of age / experience / profile that Emery could probably do something very decent with.

I think we were linked before he went there as well, weren't we?

really like him, what a winger should be, quick and direct

[brontebilly]

We continue to sign wingers and they continue to fail.

[Dave]

We should probably just give up and not bother then.

[eamonn]

Summerville's been good lately but it's taken him ages to get going. Wingers, eh? Unreliable rascals.

[VILLA MOLE]

We should probably just give up and not bother then.

what like wingless wonders ??

[brontebilly]

We should probably just give up and not bother then.

If we are sticking with the narrow midfield four, then yes. Never replaced Ramsey and still no proper cover or competition for McGinn.

Bailey, Diaby, Philogene, Sancho, Elliot, Guessand, Buendia, Malen, Rashford, Zaniolo - think they all got a go playing in midfield for Emery and impact been mixed.

Different type of player required.

[Tony Daleys Shorts]

🚨 Aston Villa are interested in Bournemouth centre back Marcos Senesi.
@MatteMoretto

Is he any good? Does it imply somebody is off?

I think he’s good. Very much in the Torres mould, plays some lovely forward passes to kick start attacks.

He’d be great on a free.

[VILLA MOLE]

Álex Jiménez has also caught my eye ,  nasty little wind up merchant

[SamTheMouse]

We should probably just give up and not bother then.

If we are sticking with the narrow midfield four, then yes. Never replaced Ramsey and still no proper cover or competition for McGinn.

Bailey, Diaby, Philogene, Sancho, Elliot, Guessand, Buendia, Malen, Rashford, Zaniolo - think they all got a go playing in midfield for Emery and impact been mixed.

Different type of player required.

I hate the idea of having no tricky wingers, as they're basically the most fun.

But I think you're right. Emery's tactics seem to work best with, essentially, four central midfielders, two of whom are versatile enough to function as old-fashioned inside forwards when the situation demands.

[cdbearsfan]

We must have wingers. Wingers are great.

[LeeB]

I'll be honest, when we were flying I was scoffing at other teams with their outdated wingers whilst we scythed through the middle of the pitch.