Summer Transfer Window 2022

[Hobsons Choice]

4 hours ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

Take a look at the Wolves forum, most of them are concerned they'll be in a struggle next season as are many neutrals, I think many on here are overrating them. I also think Palace are a bit overrated, they do have some exciting youngsters and an interesting squad, but as much as everyone hyped them last season they still only just finished above us and we were really poor for most of last season. I think they'll end up 12th/13th personally as will Wolves. 

Palace are interesting mainly because of the manager. Relatively unproven but lots of potential. Reminds me of a certain someone. They have some really good players but are somewhat reliant on a maverick playmaker. 

Basically us a couple of years ago.

[Philosopher]

Of all the midfielder links and suggestions, on Bissouma had me excited.

The endless youtube videos of Kone, Sangre, Laimer, and so on only ever looked to me like the prem would be a step too far them.

That was until I saw Thuram! This kid is the real deal. Power, pace, aggression, and a good touch. He is has a big future if he can stay focused and free of injury.

Would love to see this young man in a Villa shirt. I'm pretty sure however that PSG are all over this one. 

[d821mc]

4 hours ago, allani said:

The key point being "if things go well".  The general assumption seems to be that we should be finishing around the top 8 this season otherwise we will have failed.  My point is that (on paper) 8th would be a significant over-performance.  Of course we could do it but the odds of doing so are not as good as some people seem to be making it out.  If things don't go well (a couple of injuries or a collective loss of form) then we could easily finish where we did this season.  You are right - we are within striking distance.  One more good signing will really help establish the balance that the team / squad has been missing for 3 seasons.  Kamara is a great step in the right direction (hopefully!) but we are putting a hell of a lot of pressure / expectation on a young lad in a new country if we are expecting him to solve all our problems in midfield.  Dougie and McGinn might both be better with Kamara behind them - but I have doubts that a midfield with Luiz and McGinn playing the majority of minutes in the majority of games will be consistent enough to finish in 8th place.  An extra (better) player in that position will suddenly give us real strength in depth to maintain a challenge for longer.

Similarly I hope that our defence will be better with Mings having a more senior partner alongside him (in terms of quality / reading of the game) keeping him on his toes.  But I still worry that when put under pressure we will resort to the "whack the ball down the channel" tactic that has put us under pressure for spells of each of the last 3 seasons.

Pretty sure I have said better balanced squads.  Of course all the mid-table teams will have weaknesses that other teams will try to exploit.  But our midfield has spluttered for 3 seasons on the trot - brilliant at times, woeful at others.  We've started to address that but I think people are being overly optimistic if they think that we will go from 14th to 8th based on signing one midfield player.  I expect that fans of Leicester, West Ham, Newcastle, Palace and Wolves would expect their teams to finish above Villa.  After all they have done for the last few seasons.  I suspect that most independent outsiders would look at our signings and say we've done OK but I doubt many would put us in the top 8 for next season.  We are definitely closing the gap and so far Gerrard and the Board seem to have been tackling the right problems with their transfer dealings this summer.  So there are plenty of positives.  But unless we can manage to control more games from the centre of the pitch we will probably continue to be incredibly inconsistent.  I am sure that this is what SG is saying to the Board (it is definitely what he is saying in public).  For me we are 1 (ideally 2) players away from being a really good team.  At the moment we are a mid-table team equally as capable of finishing 8th as we are of finishing 14th.  I don't think we will do either of those things (one assumes everything clicks for us, the other implies that lots of things conspire against us).  We could finish top half but to say that we should finish top half without question is (in my opinion) wildly optimistic.

Anyway, it is all (hopefully!) a moot point because I do think that we will be signing another midfielder (and that some kind of agreement will be made with Luiz) and at that stage I will 100% be jumping on the Top 8 bandwagon (well maybe Top 9 just because I have been disappointed for too many seasons to not have doubts that something will go wrong for us at some point! ).

Expectations are always interesting. As it currently stands we are expected to finish 8th/9th/10th. There is half a point in terms of expected points between ourselves, West Ham and Leicester. Newcastle are a little ahead in 7th and Brighton back in 11th. So many things didnt go our way last year that I dont think are truly accounted for in those numbers. I think anything less than top 8 will be disappointing. We can have no excuses this year. No new manager. No star player has just left. 

[useless]

Not sure why people are using the fact that some out of favor players played in a pre-season friendly as some sort of victory against those that think we need more signings, just because those players played doesn't suddenly mean they're back in favor and now the squad doesn't need strengthening, those players likely still far down the pecking order, and most will either be sold or loaned out.

We've strengthened and are going to strengthen more whether people like it or not, and I find it utterly bizzare that people wouldn't like it, the way some talk you'd think we should know our place and not dare to try and improve, if that takes signing six or so players in one transfer window then so be it, and who cares if other clubs outside the top six don't have better options that Ings and Watins, so what doesn't mean to say we can't try and sign better if possible.

We're trying to become serious challengers eventually.

[PaulMcGrath_5]

Sanson, Guilbert and Davis to be shipped out in the next 2 weeks with a new CM incoming would be ideal.

[burchy]

5 minutes ago, PaulMcGrath_5 said:

Sanson, Guilbert and Davis to be shipped out in the next 2 weeks with a new CM incoming would be ideal.

Agree on Sanson and Davis but I’d keep Fred around as he’s decent cover for Cash. I’d send KKH out on loan to the championship personally. 

[Delphinho123]

I must admit, the club seemed to have really stepped it up a gear since Smith left with regards to signings. Our last few  (first team) signings have been Digne, Coutinho, Kamara and Carlos. Compare that with the last few signings of Smiths tenure - Bailey, Ings, Sanson and there is a gulf in class.

I’m not writing off the latter, I can see Bailey is really trying and I think Ings could surprise a few this season, I’m just saying we’re really targeting quality now and it seems to have paid off more-so recently.

Another central midfielder and striker of the same pedigree as Kamara, Digne, Coutinho etc. and I can genuinely see us leapfrog the likes of West Ham, Leicester and Wolves and challenge the top 6-8. 

I don’t think we’ll get a striker, but I think there is an outside chance of us signing another midfielder if we can move the likes of Davis, Sanson, El Ghazi and Traore on. That’s probably 100k in wages right there. 

We’re on an upwards trajectory after a horror show of a transfer window last Summer. The club know we need to improve in certain areas but we have to be smart with money. Unfortunately, we may be a couple of years away from competing for the top 7 still.

[allani]

1 hour ago, d821mc said:

Expectations are always interesting. As it currently stands we are expected to finish 8th/9th/10th. There is half a point in terms of expected points between ourselves, West Ham and Leicester. Newcastle are a little ahead in 7th and Brighton back in 11th. So many things didnt go our way last year that I dont think are truly accounted for in those numbers. I think anything less than top 8 will be disappointing. We can have no excuses this year. No new manager. No star player has just left. 

Just out of interest where are you getting these expected finishing positions from?  It sounds like there is a wider "analysis" than just Villa if you are saying that West Ham, Leicester and ourselves are expected to finish 8th, 9th and 10th behind the Sly 6 and Newcastle but very close together?  I'd be interested in having a further look and seeing how they support those expectations (maybe it will help me change my mind?!).

I am guessing from your wording though that in that assessment then West Ham and Leicester are 8th and 9th and we are 10th - all be it only by half a point.  In which case surely we should be saying that top half would be in line with that assessment rather than anything less than top 8 being disappointing?  I really can't see us finishing above either West Ham or Leicester this season unless we sign another player - there is a reason that they have finished in the top 8 five times out of six between them in the last 3 seasons and we haven't even been close.  To finish above both of them would be an absolutely massive jump forwards.  I suspect that Leicester, West Ham, Newcastle and Brighton (although I would put Palace and Wolves as above Brighton in terms of threat level next season) can all also point to things that didn't go their way last season (hell Everton fans are trying to claim that they should have finished above us last season if it hadn't been for VAR decisions going against them!).  In reality I think things probably balanced out on the whole (like they did both the season before and the season we just stayed up) except that maybe Brighton and Brentford did better than others expected..

I still don't believe that our fundamental issue in midfield has been fully addressed.  Kamara seems to have done well yesterday but we haven't seen him in a PL match yet.  Luiz and McGinn together have dominated fewer matches than those in which they have been dominated.  It's not an excuse.  It's a statement that we are still (in my opinion) unbalanced.  One more midfielder changes almost all of that.  Having the ability to bring on the likes of Luiz, JJ or McGinn with 30 minutes to go would be fantastic.  But having 2 of those 3 starting 38 matches next season for me means that 10th / 11th is more realistic than 7th / 8th.

Hopefully we make that one additional signing soon and then I think we can be more confident of being in the mix with Leicester, West Ham and Newcastle for "best of the rest" (with the possibility that one of the Sly 6 has a poor season and turns it into a 5 way battle for 6th, 7th and 8th.

[maqroll]

Is winning the League Cup a backdoor into Europe?

If so, we should go all out to win it.

[AVTuco]

5 hours ago, allani said:

The key point being "if things go well".  The general assumption seems to be that we should be finishing around the top 8 this season otherwise we will have failed.  My point is that (on paper) 8th would be a significant over-performance.  Of course we could do it but the odds of doing so are not as good as some people seem to be making it out.  If things don't go well (a couple of injuries or a collective loss of form) then we could easily finish where we did this season.  You are right - we are within striking distance.  One more good signing will really help establish the balance that the team / squad has been missing for 3 seasons.  Kamara is a great step in the right direction (hopefully!) but we are putting a hell of a lot of pressure / expectation on a young lad in a new country if we are expecting him to solve all our problems in midfield.  Dougie and McGinn might both be better with Kamara behind them - but I have doubts that a midfield with Luiz and McGinn playing the majority of minutes in the majority of games will be consistent enough to finish in 8th place.  An extra (better) player in that position will suddenly give us real strength in depth to maintain a challenge for longer.

Similarly I hope that our defence will be better with Mings having a more senior partner alongside him (in terms of quality / reading of the game) keeping him on his toes.  But I still worry that when put under pressure we will resort to the "whack the ball down the channel" tactic that has put us under pressure for spells of each of the last 3 seasons.

Pretty sure I have said better balanced squads.  Of course all the mid-table teams will have weaknesses that other teams will try to exploit.  But our midfield has spluttered for 3 seasons on the trot - brilliant at times, woeful at others.  We've started to address that but I think people are being overly optimistic if they think that we will go from 14th to 8th based on signing one midfield player.  I expect that fans of Leicester, West Ham, Newcastle, Palace and Wolves would expect their teams to finish above Villa.  After all they have done for the last few seasons.  I suspect that most independent outsiders would look at our signings and say we've done OK but I doubt many would put us in the top 8 for next season.  We are definitely closing the gap and so far Gerrard and the Board seem to have been tackling the right problems with their transfer dealings this summer.  So there are plenty of positives.  But unless we can manage to control more games from the centre of the pitch we will probably continue to be incredibly inconsistent.  I am sure that this is what SG is saying to the Board (it is definitely what he is saying in public).  For me we are 1 (ideally 2) players away from being a really good team.  At the moment we are a mid-table team equally as capable of finishing 8th as we are of finishing 14th.  I don't think we will do either of those things (one assumes everything clicks for us, the other implies that lots of things conspire against us).  We could finish top half but to say that we should finish top half without question is (in my opinion) wildly optimistic.

Anyway, it is all (hopefully!) a moot point because I do think that we will be signing another midfielder (and that some kind of agreement will be made with Luiz) and at that stage I will 100% be jumping on the Top 8 bandwagon (well maybe Top 9 just because I have been disappointed for too many seasons to not have doubts that something will go wrong for us at some point! ).

I agree with your thoughts, I think we're on the same page. I just like to think positively before the season starts, because we've made good moves, better than last summer. 

[allani]

1 hour ago, Delphinho123 said:

I must admit, the club seemed to have really stepped it up a gear since Smith left with regards to signings. Our last few  (first team) signings have been Digne, Coutinho, Kamara and Carlos. Compare that with the last few signings of Smiths tenure - Bailey, Ings, Sanson and there is a gulf in class.

I’m not writing off the latter, I can see Bailey is really trying and I think Ings could surprise a few this season, I’m just saying we’re really targeting quality now and it seems to have paid off more-so recently.

Another central midfielder and striker of the same pedigree as Kamara, Digne, Coutinho etc. and I can genuinely see us leapfrog the likes of West Ham, Leicester and Wolves and challenge the top 6-8. 

I don’t think we’ll get a striker, but I think there is an outside chance of us signing another midfielder if we can move the likes of Davis, Sanson, El Ghazi and Traore on. That’s probably 100k in wages right there. 

We’re on an upwards trajectory after a horror show of a transfer window last Summer. The club know we need to improve in certain areas but we have to be smart with money. Unfortunately, we may be a couple of years away from competing for the top 7 still.

Lots of signs to be positive about.  I think Bailey and Buendia were (expectations wise) on a similar level to our signings this summer.  Bailey was talked about as being one of the most exciting attacking players in Europe in a similar way to the way that Kamara has been talked about as one of the most exciting defensive midfielders in Europe.  Maybe that is why I am feeling a little less positive than other posters about our expectations for this coming season.  However, we do seem to be selling our vision to a better level of player (rather than a left back on the bench at Soton we've signed the starting LB from Everton as an example).

I am with you that I think we are (the same) two players short of challenging for the "best of the rest".  Prepared to give Ollie and Ings until January to see whether they can remove the need for a new striker - even if that means a 9th / 10th place finish this season.  Maybe one or other (or both!) come good.

[d821mc]

4 minutes ago, allani said:

Just out of interest where are you getting these expected finishing positions from?  It sounds like there is a wider "analysis" than just Villa if you are saying that West Ham, Leicester and ourselves are expected to finish 8th, 9th and 10th behind the Sly 6 and Newcastle but very close together?  I'd be interested in having a further look and seeing how they support those expectations (maybe it will help me change my mind?!).

I am guessing from your wording though that in that assessment then West Ham and Leicester are 8th and 9th and we are 10th - all be it only by half a point.  In which case surely we should be saying that top half would be in line with that assessment rather than anything less than top 8 being disappointing?  I really can't see us finishing above either West Ham or Leicester this season unless we sign another player - there is a reason that they have finished in the top 8 five times out of six between them in the last 3 seasons and we haven't even been close.  To finish above both of them would be an absolutely massive jump forwards.  I suspect that Leicester, West Ham, Newcastle and Brighton (although I would put Palace and Wolves as above Brighton in terms of threat level next season) can all also point to things that didn't go their way last season (hell Everton fans are trying to claim that they should have finished above us last season if it hadn't been for VAR decisions going against them!).  In reality I think things probably balanced out on the whole (like they did both the season before and the season we just stayed up) except that maybe Brighton and Brentford did better than others expected..

I still don't believe that our fundamental issue in midfield has been fully addressed.  Kamara seems to have done well yesterday but we haven't seen him in a PL match yet.  Luiz and McGinn together have dominated fewer matches than those in which they have been dominated.  It's not an excuse.  It's a statement that we are still (in my opinion) unbalanced.  One more midfielder changes almost all of that.  Having the ability to bring on the likes of Luiz, JJ or McGinn with 30 minutes to go would be fantastic.  But having 2 of those 3 starting 38 matches next season for me means that 10th / 11th is more realistic than 7th / 8th.

Hopefully we make that one additional signing soon and then I think we can be more confident of being in the mix with Leicester, West Ham and Newcastle for "best of the rest" (with the possibility that one of the Sly 6 has a poor season and turns it into a 5 way battle for 6th, 7th and 8th.

You can see the expected points for each team on Sporting index. Leicester and us have the same expected pts with West Ham 0.5pts ahead. They are the most respected spread betting firm. It just gives an idea of how those who have money invested in these things view it. Its nice to see a more objective view.

Fwiw I dont think we have sorted the midfield either. Still need another top quality player in there. Never convinced by Luiz. Think Ramsey potentially overrated at this stage. McGinn too inconsistent. If we can sort it think we will be top 8. 

[allani]

3 minutes ago, AVTuco said:

I agree with your thoughts, I think we're on the same page. I just like to think positively before the season starts, because we've made good moves, better than last summer. 

Yeah - maybe I have just had too many summers of positive thoughts only to see them dashed in the first 2 - 3 months of the season!   I do genuinely think that we are close though.  The problem is that central midfield is still such an important / problematic area for us that there is only so much progress we can make before our achilles heel hampers us again.

[allani]

Just now, d821mc said:

You can see the expected points for each team on Sporting index. Leicester and us have the same expected pts with West Ham 0.5pts ahead. They are the most respected spread betting firm. It just gives an idea of how those who have money invested in these things view it. Its nice to see a more objective view.

Fwiw I dont think we have sorted the midfield either. Still need another top quality player in there. Never convinced by Luiz. Think Ramsey potentially overrated at this stage. McGinn too inconsistent. If we can sort it think we will be top 8. 

I absolutely agree with that.  I just don't think we have sorted it yet.  A new midfielder and a quality striker and I do think that we can push whichever of the Sly 6 isn't having a good season.  The question then is whether Newcastle, West Ham and / or us can then turn it into a proper Top 8 rather than a Top 6 given how hard the Sly 6 and FFP will make it for any of us to challenge / replace any of them.

[Villaphan04]

I would be interested in seeing the market etc for Lo Celso. Feel like he could join our South American contingent quite well

[PaulMcGrath_5]

Just now, Villaphan04 said:

I would be interested in seeing the market etc for Lo Celso. Feel like he could join our South American contingent quite well

I am a fan of Lo Celso, good shout!

[useless]

According to Spanish outlet Fichajes we've joined the race for Raúl de Tomás.

[PaulMcGrath_5]

Just now, useless said:

According to Spanish outlet Fichajes we've joined the race for Raúl de Tomás.

Ohh now I like that link! 

[useless]

I've never heard of him, not that that means anything. Also no idea how reliable Fichajes are, but something to ponder.

[PaulMcGrath_5]

6 minutes ago, useless said:

I've never heard of him, not that that means anything. Also no idea how reliable Fichajes are, but something to ponder.