Summer 26 Transfer Window - hopes, speculation, rumours etc.

[PaulWinch again]

Back up to Cash, better than Bailey/Guessand and Sancho are more important for starters. A striker when we already have Ollie and Tammy isn't a priority.

Yup. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love an up and coming star striker. But it’s not a priority versus other areas on the pitch.

[Smirker]

Fucking hell, has he started again less then 48hours after winning our first trophy in 30 years?

Oh do get a grip. We're discussing transfer targets and where we think we should improve and it's totally relevant to the discussion.

[PaulWinch again]

Fucking hell, has he started again less then 48hours after winning our first trophy in 30 years?

Oh do get a grip. We're discussing transfer targets and where we think we should improve and it's totally relevant to the discussion.

As a general discussion point it might, but it’s your tired agenda people are bored with - especially at this time. Watkins has been outstanding last couple of months and has been essential to us achieving our aims. There are really obvious priorities above striker.

[Dante Lavelli]

The only way Villa improve on Watkins is by being lucky with youth or a punt on a younger player that pays off. No way we can afford proven better scorers. We may well have that player already and will find out in two or three years.  Wing, competition for right back and central defence are the priorities unless we sell and need to replace. That and dumping perma loan players for fees.

Who are you thinking of there?

[Dick Edwards]

Isn't Brian Madjo in our plans for the near future?

[LeeS]

Isn't Brian Madjo in our plans for the near future?

He’s eligible to play in 2035, I think

[paul_e]

Bowen is 29 guys.

Come on.

He is absolutely not too old at all.

West Ham will be financially struggling.

He's not going to break the bank.

It would be an improvement over Bailey, that's all.

As for striker, Igor Thiago at Brentford would be an option. Pannichelli in the French league is 23 and just broke into the Argentina squad, Kaio Jorge in Brazil. Kroupi at Bournemouth. There are certainly options to look at. Don't bother replying with some shit reasoning about how Kroupi has only scored 13 when I said 30 because you're smart enough to understand that in a different team he could possibly score a lot more and he's only 19.

Point being, just because it might be hard to find, doesn't mean there's no point trying.

He is too old for us when so many of our existing squad are in that same age group.

As for strikers Panichelli would be my choice but you seem to have missed that during that Argentina call up his tore his ACL and will be out until Christmas and is then likely to need a few months to recover. If he refinds his form then he absolutely should be a target for next summer though.

Next summer is also when I'd be seriously looking at that position, we have much bigger priorities this time round.

[Ian.]

Fucking hell, has he started again less then 48hours after winning our first trophy in 30 years?

Oh do get a grip. We're discussing transfer targets and where we think we should improve and it's totally relevant to the discussion.

If you take away the penalties Thiago scores a similar amount to Ollie and he misses just as many chances, so I can’t see how he would improve us as he doesn’t offer the movement or pressing. I’ve watched him a lot since January and he hasn’t impressed me at all. I reckon he’d be another Malen or Tammy type signing who sits on the bench as he doesn’t fit in to our team.

[Dante Lavelli]

29 isn’t too old, but its too old to be committing most of our finite transfer funds.

I got ridiculed for this previously, but a mutually beneficial loan for Bowen could work.  He gets his season in the sun, West Ham shed the wages whilst in the championship, we get his last season before his legs go without paying £40m.  Burrowes, Young and Aloba develop in the background.

[ChicagoLion]

Bowen would solve the problem right side position.
To kick on we are going to need to bring in a few ready made players.

[Dave]

Bowen would solve the problem right side position.
To kick on we are going to need to bring in a few ready made players.

And in eight months time we'll be complaining that we've tied up so much money in another thirty year old with no re-sale value who is getting slower every passing month.

How about we spend the £40m or so he would cost on a ready-made 24 year old instead?

[Smirker]

Fucking hell, has he started again less then 48hours after winning our first trophy in 30 years?

Oh do get a grip. We're discussing transfer targets and where we think we should improve and it's totally relevant to the discussion.

As a general discussion point it might, but it’s your tired agenda people are bored with - especially at this time. Watkins has been outstanding last couple of months and has been essential to us achieving our aims. There are really obvious priorities above striker.

So deal with it and take it as a general discussion point. You really need to accept some people have different opinions to you because it is entirely justified to discuss it in this thread when we're talking about transfers and where we could improve. It's not as if I bumped the thread to shit on him completely unprompted.

[Mister E]

Back up to Cash, better than Bailey/Guessand and Sancho ...

Cash => Tristan Rowe and Mingueza on a free.
Ahead of the RB => Victor Munoz and one of Alysson, Burrowes, Broggio and Young.


I agree with others that Watkins, Abraham and Brian (with Alysson also providing CF capability) is fine for our current needs.

Alternative LCB required, unless one of Cisse, Mosquera and Routh are ready to shadow Torres.
Then get an option in the Buendia role (if it's not JJA) and we're done.
If Digne leaves, we'll need another LB.

[Dave]

Fucking hell, has he started again less then 48hours after winning our first trophy in 30 years?

Oh do get a grip. We're discussing transfer targets and where we think we should improve and it's totally relevant to the discussion.

As a general discussion point it might, but it’s your tired agenda people are bored with - especially at this time. Watkins has been outstanding last couple of months and has been essential to us achieving our aims. There are really obvious priorities above striker.

So deal with it and take it as a general discussion point. You really need to accept some people have different opinions to you because it is entirely justified to discuss it in this thread when we're talking about transfers and where we could improve. It's not as if I bumped the thread to shit on him completely unprompted.

But everyone knows that short of a broken leg in the summer, Watkins will start next season as our first-choice striker. I imagine that had his early season form continued, we'd finished seventh and been knocked out by Forest then maybe a new striker would have been bumped up the list of priorities. But it didn't and we weren't.

In the end, he finished (assuming he's not playing tomorrow) on 19 goals, with a trophy and a top five finish. So his body of work for the season means he's still there next time.

So the discussion point is really just you complaining about reality.

[Bent Neilsens Screamer]

^ regarding your cover for LCB Bournemouth have been linked with Ousmane Diomande, plays in that position for Sporting, as a replacement for Senesi. Only 22 and very highly rated, has previously been linked to bigger clubs than Bournemouth.

He played an exquisite through ball to their left winger to smash it against the bar against Arsenal, so he’s got that in his locker.

Edit. In response to Mister E