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

[Dogtanian]

What’s the word on pronunciation, though?

[nigel]

What happened to the kid we paid £20m from some club in Luxembourg I think???

France.

We can't register him because our recruitment guys forgot to read the rules properly.

We can register him in January when he turns 18.

I wonder if they knew exactly what the rules were, they just wanted to beat any other suitors.
It has given the young chap plenty of time to settle in

[Dave]

Perhaps. There's quite a few "maybe they did know and it just looks on the surface like they were incompetent?" examples though.

The "only adding three players to the post-January UEFA squad" last year, rumours of not understanding how Elliott's transfer fee would be seen by UEFA until after the deal had been done, and Madjo.

That's quite a few things where it looks like they didn't know what they were doing.

[Mister E]

Off topic but transfer related; Eliot has been linked with a £25m move to Leeds.  Nice to see Liverpool’s stubbornness has cost them £10m.

That would be a good move for both parties.

[Mister E]

Perhaps. There's quite a few "maybe they did know and it just looks on the surface like they were incompetent?" examples though.

The club probably should have checked more thoroughly but the judgement re Brian is somewhat subjective ("The disagreement stemmed from FIFA characterising the transfer as an international transfer, due to Madjo's appearances for the Luxembourg national team, whereas Aston Villa considered him English due to being born in London. An international transfer cannot take place until a player is 18 years old, which would mean Madjo would not be able to be registered until January 2027" - from Wikipedia), and the kid had also played 9 times for the England U17 after having represented Luxembourg.
If I were a conspiracist, I'd be asking whether this was simply someone at FIFA with an axe to grind re Premier League clubs with loadsa money ...

[Dave]

I don't think the "playing for England or Luxembourg" thing really comes into it, it's just the fact that he's moving from a club in France to a club in England before turning 18.

https://www.thefa.com/-/media/files/thefaportal/governance-docs/registrations/fifa-article-19---feb-2024.ashx

"International transfers of players are only permitted if the player is over the age of 18". There are five exceptions:

Parents moving to that country for non-footballing reasons
Moving to another EEA country
Moving to another club in a different country within 50km of your current home
Moving as a former / current refugee
Moving temporarily for study / educational exchange reasons

We might think it's silly, but there's not much of a grey area that makes it unclear. It's a Brexit problem more than it's a UEFA problem.

[Dogtanian]

Information from Jacob Tanswell at the Athletic on our plans:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7254854/2026/06/02/aston-villa-emery-rowe-mbaye-transfer-dealsheet/

Pacey wingers, right-back, only a keeper if we get a good offer for Martinez.

[Olneythelonely]

Anyone got a free version?

[Percy McCarthy]

I’ve just read it free on X.

[algy]

Anyone got a free version?

https://archive.ph/PK3gH

[caster troy]

This article makes sense. Our baseline best XI is:

Martinez
Cash Konsa Torres Digne
McGinn Onana Kamara Rogers
Tielemans
Watkins

On the basis that the holy trinity of Onana Kamara and Tielemans are rarely fit at the same time, and Rogers is better in the '10' role I'd say a decent left sided midfielder is the priority to improve the starting XI, preferably someone quick.

Secondly, as Unai likes a turbo charged McGinn for 70 mins, a pacy right midfielder would be my second priority.

Thirdly someone who can cover Cash and Konsa would be ideal, Lindelof can then cover Torres/Kamara.

After that depending on outgoings I'd be looking to reduce the age profile of the squad and start succession planning for key positions.