João Félix

[villan-scott]

Kind of feels like a negotiation tactic from us. All the reports coming out were around the financials being difficult. I don’t imagine we’ve walked away completely after 1 day - I’d guess it’s a stance from Monchi that we’re not willing to pay what they/Felix want.

If he wants a move and doesn’t have many suitors it may play out over a few weeks. 

Emery being really keen means we’d be willing to be patient on this one. 

[Leeroy]

6 hours ago, Pongo Waring said:

Martin Laursen
Luc Nilis

Nilis came from PSV - not a top club (outside the Netherlands).

[KangarooVillan]

13 hours ago, Pongo Waring said:

If any transfer goes bad... its the same right? 

Felix is young enough (Only 1 year older than Jacob Ramsey) and bigger enough name to ship to Saudi if it does go wrong. But that is negative thinking. 
Plus its Euros not pounds.

Definitely. That’s why I’d be reluctant to splash that money on anyone with anything that resembles a question mark, especially one who 3 major clubs have seen up close and not wanted to sign (character question marks aside).

We can’t rely on Saudi wanting to pickup X player we don’t want anymore and the player wanting to go there.

I’ve seen both euros and pounds reported - either way sentiment is the same.

[Leeroy]

13 minutes ago, villan-scott said:

Kind of feels like a negotiation tactic from us. All the reports coming out were around the financials being difficult. I don’t imagine we’ve walked away completely after 1 day - I’d guess it’s a stance from Monchi that we’re not willing to pay what they/Felix want.

If he wants a move and doesn’t have many suitors it may play out over a few weeks. 

Emery being really keen means we’d be willing to be patient on this one. 

The problem with waiting is we could potentially miss out on other targets. 

 

I'd like us to take a punt on Felix just because of how talented he is but I also don't want it to drag until after the season has started.

 

Ideally we need someone in within the next week or 2, along with another centre back, so that we are ready to go for the new season and we can give all the new players game time before the final two friendlies against Bilbao and Dortmund.

[alreadyexists]

10 hours ago, Panto_Villan said:

Genuine questions - have we had many players come here and do well after being pushed out of a top club?

I reckon there's a big difference in attitude between a player that's trying to reach the top of the game, and a player who has already reached the top and not quite cut it. Must be hard to have the same fire after all that.

Ashley Young had the right mentality to drop down the levels as he got older and keep giving it everything. Seems like Ross Barkley might now have a similar mindset. Maybe I'm forgetting some big examples, but it just seems to me that signing an expensive player on high wages when they might have already peaked could be a mistake we'd end up regretting. Not just Coutinho, but o.g. Ross Barkley or Danny Drinkwater spring to mind. Or Stephen Ireland. Or Micah Richards. Or Joleon Lescott. And so on.

Most of our best players were signed from top teams that wanted to keep them but couldn't offer them as much first-team football as they wanted (Martinez), or were taking a step up to come to us from smaller and less successful clubs (Onana etc).

God? 

[allani]

9 hours ago, Captain_Townsend said:

Dean Saunders (from Liverpool), Steve Staunton (twice from Liverpool), Paul Merson (from Arsenal albeit via Middlesborough) are others in the mix.

Dion Dublin and Andy Townsend.  I'd also include John Terry in the list although we were clearly in a very different position when he arrived and so it's less relevant in terms of where we now are and where we hope to be going.

[allani]

David James

[Leeroy]

14 minutes ago, allani said:

Dion Dublin and Andy Townsend.  I'd also include John Terry in the list although we were clearly in a very different position when he arrived and so it's less relevant in terms of where we now are and where we hope to be going.

Townsend came from Chelsea pre Abramovich before they won any trophies with regularity. They were not a bigger club than us at the time nor were they a top club.

 

Being in a fashionable part of London doesn’t count. 

[OutByEaster?]

22 minutes ago, allani said:

Dion Dublin.

From Coventry City?

Perhaps I've misunderstood the question.

[colhint]

Dean Saunders

[allani]

8 minutes ago, Leeroy said:

Townsend came from Chelsea pre Abramovich before they won any trophies with regularity. They were not a bigger club than us at the time nor were they a top club.

 

Being in a fashionable part of London doesn’t count. 

Fair point.  My best mate at school was a Chelsea fan so us signing Townsend from them was a really big deal for me in terms of bragging rights.  So that's probably why it stuck in my mind more than their league standing at the time merited!

[Vive_La_Villa]

If this guy was so good why did both Chelsea and Barcelona decide not to keep him?  That aside let's say he would be great to us. Is he really going to take a significant drop in his wages to sign for us? 
 

Maybe a loan where we pay some of his wages but even then it would likely mean there wasn't much interest. Question is why?
 

Im struggling to understand why fans think there is any chance in this signing.

[allani]

4 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

From Coventry City?

Perhaps I've misunderstood the question.

I completely refuse to accept the existance of Coventry City so in my mind he only played for Man Utd before us. 

[Silent_Bob]

Just now, Vive_La_Villa said:

If this guy was so good why did both Chelsea and Barcelona decide not to keep him?  That aside let's say he would be great to us. Is he really going to take a significant drop in his wages to sign for us? 
 

Maybe a loan where we pay some of his wages but even then it would likely mean there wasn't much interest. Question is why?
 

Im struggling to understand why fans think there is any chance in this signing.

Chelsea...was a mess that year. They signed Sterling, Koulibaly, Chukwuemeka, Cucurella, Casadei, Fofana, Aubameyang, Badiashile, another Fofana, Santos, Mudryk, Madueke, Gusto, Fernandez, and loaned in Felix. They must have signed players for £500m that season. They fired Tuchel in September, Potter in April and finished 12th under Lampard. Pochettino had his own shopping list when he came in last summer. 

Barca don't have unlimited amounts of money. They want Nico Williams. 

I mean, I don't like us to sign players on a downward trajectory. But the reason is I think that he doesn't want to play for Atletico. And they paid £100m for him and don't want to sell him with a big loss. So they loan him out, first to Chelsea and then to Barcelona. 

After all there are not that many clubs that can afford players like him. If he has the right mentality, coming here could be the right decision for him. A club on the way up, with a great manager could give him the stability he most likely needs if he's still interested in achieving anything as a player. If he's just after the money he can go to Saudi.

[villa89]

2 hours ago, villan-scott said:

Kind of feels like a negotiation tactic from us. All the reports coming out were around the financials being difficult. I don’t imagine we’ve walked away completely after 1 day - I’d guess it’s a stance from Monchi that we’re not willing to pay what they/Felix want.

If he wants a move and doesn’t have many suitors it may play out over a few weeks. 

Emery being really keen means we’d be willing to be patient on this one. 

IF we are interested it was always going to be messy. Athletico will over value him and his wages are also too high for his ability level. Athletico are going to have to take a huge loss on him if they are to get rid, they are probably hoping they can ship him off to Saudi or PSG. A Loan with an option to buy is the best deal for us. 

Edited July 24 by villa89

[Vive_La_Villa]

5 minutes ago, villa89 said:

IF we are interested it was always going to be messy. Athletico will over value him and his wages are also too high for his ability level. Athletico are going to have to take a huge loss on him if they are to get rid, they are probably hoping they can ship him off to Saudi or PSG. A Loan with an option to buy is the best deal for us. 

This would work. Give him chance to prove himself before Villa made a big financial commitment.

However I'm thinking if he's that good wouldn't a bigger club snap him up on loan? Similar to how Barca did last season?

Edited July 24 by Vive_La_Villa

[Mic09]

57 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

If this guy was so good why did both Chelsea and Barcelona decide not to keep him?  That aside let's say he would be great to us. Is he really going to take a significant drop in his wages to sign for us? 
 

Maybe a loan where we pay some of his wages but even then it would likely mean there wasn't much interest. Question is why?
 

Im struggling to understand why fans think there is any chance in this signing.

There is a chance precisely because he bounced off two major clubs.

And the reason he bounced off them is because both clubs are a joke. 

Felix is a genius of a player that's been mishandled badly. He went to a defensive Atletico, simply because he wanted to stay close to home and family. This was widely reported. 

He then went to Chelsea, who are a joke.

And then to Barcelona who are an even bigger joke.

I watched him live at Benfica, and he was incredible. Under a good coaching team in the right set up he is a top CL player. 

[TRO]

3 hours ago, villan-scott said:

Kind of feels like a negotiation tactic from us. All the reports coming out were around the financials being difficult. I don’t imagine we’ve walked away completely after 1 day - I’d guess it’s a stance from Monchi that we’re not willing to pay what they/Felix want.

If he wants a move and doesn’t have many suitors it may play out over a few weeks. 

Emery being really keen means we’d be willing to be patient on this one. 

The case of not many suitors, is off putting, in itself.
Do we know for sure Unai is really keen?

I would say Felix ability stirs the loins, but his work rate and consistency nullifies them.

Steve Nichol reckons, he is a player that can get managers the sack, I guess in our case that may not be so, however, I get his point.

Players, despite their ability, who have very iffy application, is like having a sharp knife, that is blunt after its first cut.

we are developing a young hungry, athletic outfit, the last thing we need is grumpy, non worker stinking the place out…and turning it on in bits and dabs.

That is the downside, the up side is a player, who can unlock defences and frighten the bee jades out of teams….burning question is, which one do we get.

I understand the gamble but 50mill don’t grow on trees, will such uncertainty surrounding this player, any savvy club would only accept a loan with an option to buy….the risk then might be worth taking, but I say again, as long as his attitude, does not upset the camp.

I guess our savvy staff, will come the right conclusion.

ps Williams all day long for me.

Edited July 24 by TRO

[PaulC]

1 hour ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

If this guy was so good why did both Chelsea and Barcelona decide not to keep him?  That aside let's say he would be great to us. Is he really going to take a significant drop in his wages to sign for us? 
 

Maybe a loan where we pay some of his wages but even then it would likely mean there wasn't much interest. Question is why?
 

Im struggling to understand why fans think there is any chance in this signing.

He will take a paycut to ressurect his career and just maybe Emery rates him and feels he can get the best out of him.

[TRO]

12 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

Does anyone think that if there was no FFP that our owners would pay the fee and wages?

No.

They are business, people not benefactors…..They have employed Monchi, because he knows his way around, the shark infested, transfer market, and the gangsta world of agents.