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

[ADVILLAFAN]

Is it too much to ask to find someone at Gainsborough Trinity with the talent of Jhon Duran and the temperament of James Milner?

A few years ago they were managed by Brian Little, so he may know.

[Rory]

I'm the same as Monty.  I'm just a daydreamer with romantic notions, I'm afraid.  I'll let Unai work out what players we sign and if we can make things work.  But I'd be really, really happy if Jack came back and won the league with us.  It'd be a nice "thank you", in the same way that I'm chuffed Tyrone Mings, Dougie, and Tammy all picked up a winners' medal this time round.

He doesn't deserve that.

He's not just another player, he was supposed to be a Villa fan.

I don't give a shit about the logical 'we'd all have done the same thing if we were him' bollocks. We're not in it for logic. If we were, we'd all conclude that supporting a football club is nonsensical, bail and the club would fold.

I don't hate him, but he made his bed, and he can lie in it.

I also don't give a shit about romanticism. He could've thought about what might be romantic instead of trying to leave every summer, and eventually achieving it.

If he were still any good, maybe. But he's not. Fuck him and any notion of a 'dream homecoming'. He thought he was better than us, and now we're better than him.

He can fuck off.

[ROBBO]

How long has he been out for? injured at Villa too for quite a while if I remember right. Last thing we need is an ageing player who's recovering from a long term injury. Don't think Unai will be interested.

[john2710]

He thought he was better than us, and now we're better than him.

Exactly, nothing else needs to be said.

[Monty]

He's not just another player, he was supposed to be a Villa fan.

I don't give a shit about the logical 'we'd all have done the same thing if we were him' bollocks. We're not in it for logic. If we were, we'd all conclude that supporting a football club is nonsensical, bail and the club would fold.

I don't hate him, but he made his bed, and he can lie in it.

I also don't give a shit about romanticism.

My chap, my G, bruv, these are contradictory statements.

Anyway, we're agreeing. You're not treating Jack like just any other player - you have a specific antipathy, and this in its own way is I think also correct.

I agree also so much with your point that 'we're in it for logic'. All this (apologies Sam!) stuff about there being 'no room for sentimentality' - brother, I know the club need to think like this because it's quite literally their job to do so, but I'm not the club, I am a dim and dewy-eyed loser with a wholly irrational attachment to a bunch of men in specific shirts making standing around on grass more complicated than it has any right to be. If there were 'no room for sentiment', as Rory says, the club would fold - actually, there'd be no football at all.

[Mister E]

... I'm all for sticking if we can get Abraham replaced but we'd probably only see £20m - £25m max for him. Maybe a loanee on a good fee with an option to buy for a very promising young striker is the only option ...

I suspect Brian may be the young promising striker that you refer to.

... More than anything we really need to have a brilliant transfer window this summer. We can't afford to be throwing around our limited cash on moneyball players when everything needs to be invested on strengthening the team not the squad.

I suspect, as ever, that it will be a combination: a couple of first-teamers (Mingueza and Souri, for example) and a couple more like Alysson. These latter may even come from within (Hemmings, Rowe, for example) which would give us a little more flex to bring in established players.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Try to enjoy the world cup knockouts first I guess!

That's no longer possible since Tuchel opened his big gob and said he has no problems with players being transferred during the World Cup providing it's not on the day of a game or the day before.

[eamonn]

Yeah, the snivelling player-licker!

[PeterWithe]

A few links to a young centre back called John Martin who, despite the name, is a Spaniard at Real Sociadad.

[Dogtanian]

The next 3-4 windows are going to be very important, I think. We have an ageing squad and around 13 players in the last year or two of their contracts.

We need to begin refreshing that squad without disrupting it or breaking the bank. It's a huge balancing act and very difficult to get right. Particularly as a drop-off will hit us financially and massively impact what we are trying to do.

By the end of the season, Emery will have been here for four and a half years - the longest he's ever been at a football club. We know he can build good sides from whatever he has to hand, but this may be the first time he's had to dismantle his team and re-build it again.

It's one of the most difficult things in football, and few managers get the chance to do it as few get that long at a club. Fergie was the master at it. And if Emery is going to stay here for a long time, it's something he's going to have to show he can do well.

So yeah, a hugely important couple of seasons for us coming up, and for Emery. If he shows he can do this well, he'll be the complete manager in my book and an even bigger legend.

[ASHTONVILLA]

To a certain extent I think the rebuild process has already started. The young striker we can's register was not cheap, he is clearly seen as someone that can develop alongside Watkins ala Duran. Meanwhile we have Tammy for competition.

Allyson is another player who looks to be in contention for game time if he can actually stay fit.

We have a bunch of good young players like Hemmings coming through, you would hope one or two make it.

I think this is the year we see Martinez be replaced by a younger keeper on lower wages. I think this is the year we see Mings be replaced by a younger player that can compete with Torres. Kamara and Onana are still young as is Rogers if we can keep hold of him.

I don't think Emery will rip things apart, he will patiently bring players through as he moulds them into being able to play in his system.

[VILLA MOLE]

A few links to a young centre back called John Martin who, despite the name, is a Spaniard at Real Sociadad.

we can call him Juan Martinez

[paul_e]

To a certain extent I think the rebuild process has already started. The young striker we can's register was not cheap, he is clearly seen as someone that can develop alongside Watkins ala Duran. Meanwhile we have Tammy for competition.

Allyson is another player who looks to be in contention for game time if he can actually stay fit.

We have a bunch of good young players like Hemmings coming through, you would hope one or two make it.

I think this is the year we see Martinez be replaced by a younger keeper on lower wages. I think this is the year we see Mings be replaced by a younger player that can compete with Torres. Kamara and Onana are still young as is Rogers if we can keep hold of him.

I don't think Emery will rip things apart, he will patiently bring players through as he moulds them into being able to play in his system.

We may well have already signed the Mings replacement as well, with Cisse arriving soon, he's another who is young, very highly rated and has been playing first team football for 18months.

[paul_e]

The next 3-4 windows are going to be very important, I think. We have an ageing squad and around 13 players in the last year or two of their contracts.
<snip>

Not going to quote everything but I think we've started to over state the aging aspects a little too much recently. As things stand 32-33 is about the age where the top teams start to move players on, Silva and Stones for example, and if players stay later than that you risk  a big drop off in quality (VVD, Salah). On that basis I thihk it's reasonable for us to assume that we should be looking at having players phased out by the summer after they turn 32 (and I'd say more like 36 for keepers).

On that basis the urgent replacements in the next year are: Bizot, Mings, Barkley, Digne, McGinn and Lindelof
To replace in 2years: Watkins
3years: Buendia, Torres, Tielemans, Martinez.

Anyone else should be good until the next world cup and that starts to get too far ahead to be worth worrying about.

All of those are rough estimates as well as some of them may see a drop off sooner or later than normal but effectively we need 11 players to come in at a similar level to our existing squad over 6 windows. With Madjo, Cisse and Alysson all signed early to fill some of those spots and some U18s we have high hopes for meaning it might be even less. On that basis I don't see any need for panic, 2-3 signings in the summer, 1-2 in the winter (with a few youngsters on top) and rely on slow transition rather than any big churn that risks upsetting the balance of the squad.

[Dave]

I suspect Brian may be the young promising striker that you refer to.

Yeah. Obviously you can't put all your eggs in a 17 year old basket, but it does feel more like a Duran "into the first team squad" punt rather than a Louie Barry, just because of the bigger numbers involved.

In the Watkins discussion it's been covered a number of times that there aren't many top level centre forwards around anymore to just go out and buy, and kids are all being developed into attacking midfielders instead.

So it looks like we've just decided there's no point trying to comepte with Barcelona and Man Utd to spend £70m on the best 23 year old version, so let's spent £15m on the 17 year old version that we might be able to mould into the £100m 23 year old version.