VillaParkAvenue

I agree, he will probably be a good one.

Conte getting money to spend will be fun. Spurs fans will be hoping they’re about to buy hot talent. Conte, not caring what happens two years from now, will instead almost exclusively sign 30-35-year-olds from Serie A.

Age and time left on contract are huge factors in deciding prices. Reports now about Bayern buying Mane for €30m, sounds insane but he’s 30 with just one year left. Prices drop sharply when players are around 29, doesn’t matter how fit they are or if they could potentially play until they’re 35.

Hasn’t Ings when successful (Burnley, Southampton) usually played with a strike partner?

Very much doubt Gerrard would ever let McGinn leave anyway. Not happening under this manager.

Those people on Twitter claimed Suarez was going to sign for two years.

Coutinho is no pressing monster but at least he tries and does some work. The nightmare scenario would be ending up like PSG with the front three strolling around the centre circle out of possession, watching their team mates working.

Maybe, but spending on players and positions you don’t even use isn’t ideal.

You sure about that large signing bonus? It’s common for valuable players running down contracts, but Suarez transfer value must be close to zero. It’s not like we would be able to sell him and get a fee next summer.

The question is if the physical decline this season will continue, or if it will plateau.

Yeah, our attack doesn’t come cheap.

It’s possible Suarez and Watkins could benefit from each other, with Watkins providing much of the work. I also don’t think Suarez is intended as a bench option playing minutes here and there, he’s too expensive for that to a club like ours. So I guess we’ll play two up often. The question is where this leaves Ings. Sounds like he could be moved on because I doubt he’d be fine with potentially being third choice.

Aspas is one of my favourites. Wonderful player. I read somewhere one reason it didn't work out for him in the Prem was that he didn't understand a single word of English, so after a while he just gave up and went home.

Top clubs do a lot of squad planning, that's a key thing for long-term success. A club like Man United however hasn't been doing enough of it.

Well that Twitter thread contains some valid questions so getting angry about it would be missing the point. What the club is doing currently is taking a calculated risk, and if it doesn't pay off the person who is manager in 3 years time could have a difficult period getting players off the wage bill. Many managers would want to do similar things, as they risk being sacked if they can't show quick results. A director of football (and possibly CEO/board) is supposed to have a more long-term view. On the other hand -- the strategy isn't exactly extreme. Unless we sign another 3-4 expensive oldtimers. I hope the strategy is a success. If it isn't I don't believe Villa would go under or anything, but there could be some crap years.

It's not only about burying chances, getting the opportunity usually involves quick movement. Many chances are created that way as well, through pressing, being first to loose balls etc. A front three of Coutinho, Buendia and Suarez would risk being static.

This could potentially make young players less attractive on the transfer market. Very risky to pay an enormous fee for a young player if he's likely to just walk out after four years.

Whatever the real numbers are, it's surely constructed like that to keep the official salary down. Maybe close to half what he's getting in the form of a bonus, and the rest as wages. To try and protect the wage structure. It's easier for other players to accept a one-off bonus (hopefully).

If Luiz stayed (unlikely I know) we could potentially have 6 South Americans on the pitch. Martinez, Buendia, Carlos, Luiz, Coutinho, Suarez.

A couple of years ago definitely, but I'm not sure the profile is raised by signing someone in decline. A bit like Newcastle signing Dzeko or Alexis Sanchez.

Here's the Telegraph article that was just published: Aston Villa are exploring the possibility of signing Luis Suarez who is a free agent after being released by Atletico Madrid. The 35-year-old striker is, of course, a former Liverpool team-mate of Villa manager Steven Gerrard and the club’s play-maker Philippe Coutinho who recently completed his permanent move from Barcelona for a cut-price £17million. Despite his age, Suarez wants to continuing playing in one of Europe’s major leagues although it was believed his preference is to remain in Spain where he also starred for Barcelona after leaving Liverpool in 2014. It is understood he wants to play at least one more season at the top level especially with the World Cup in Qatar at the end of this year. Suarez said an emotional farewell to Atletico fans earlier this month having fallen out of favour under coach Diego Simeone despite playing a key role in them win the league in the previous season. It is understood that Villa are exploring the possibility of bringing the Uruguayan international back to the Premier League as part of the huge summer upheaval being masterminded by Gerrard. Villa will not only have to weigh up Suarez’s wage demands but also whether, given his age, he will be able to cope with the physical demands of Premier League football. Gerrard has remained in touch with Suarez and even received a glowing reference from his former team-mate when he inquired about signing Uruguayan midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus in the January transfer window. In the end Bentancur signed for Tottenham Hotspur. Villa have already moved quickly to improve their squad. As well as Coutinho, centre-half Diego Carlos – who Newcastle United tried to secure in January - is arriving for £26m from Sevilla and midfielder Boubacar Kamara has been signed from Marseille on a five-year deal after allowing his contract to run down. The club had shown an interest in Burnley’s James Tarkowski with the defender also out of contract this summer but a deal is now unlikely to happen. Everton are believed to have moved ahead in that race. Villa will also expect to move on at least six players to free up finances and room in the squad as Gerrard stamps his imprint on the team after finishing 14th in the Premier League. Given the signing of Carlos and also targeting another central defender then Tyrone Mings would appear to be among the players whose future is in doubt.

No escaping this it seems

Mings' errors is at least partly due to him trying to take responsibility in some cases, where other players may have stayed away. Errors leading to goals is so much down to luck. If the defender makes a mistake and an opposition forward is free on goal, but misses the shot = no error in the stats. If the forward scores = one error in the defender's stats. Even though the mistakes are the same. I can get more frustrated with Mings when he makes smaller mistakes, like playing a pass over the touchline after misunderstanding a team mate. Would like to see fewer of those.

Speaking of Newcastle, this is funny. Someone is arguing Newcastle are doing the right thing by not signing expensive players like Boubacar Kamara, above a tweet suggesting they sign Neymar.

Didn’t know that about renewing contracts, thanks. Wages play a big role for FFP too — if Villa get rid of three players who were on 30k per week and bring in three players on 130k, it increases costs with 15m per year.