João Félix

[TRO]

1 hour ago, allani said:

This is where Monchi and Emery come in.  They've got the European track record to sell.  Plus we have Emi, we've kept Emi and Emi talks about us a lot.  That's also going to make players think a bit more about us than some of those clubs that have one or two good seasons and then drop back into the pack.  Another point is that news of Villa's signings this summer travels far - the highest spenders in Europe graphic (whilst not telling the whole story) has appeared here in Italy too.

I think your general point is correct and it does make it harder for us (especially as the PL seems to be getting more competitive and so there are probably 9 or 10 teams targetting Europe next season).  But I think we're in a zone somewhere between the likes of Dortmund and the usual place of "first or second time" CL qualifiers from a strong league.  We've got more appeal than maybe one would expect for a club in our position.

Good post

[TRO]

1 hour ago, The_Steve said:

This is my new favourite made up rumour 

Factoids rule.

[Captain_Townsend]

2 hours ago, allani said:

Sorry but I think 99.9% of players would choose Barcelona over Villa.  I don't see that as a negative.  It's more a question of whether he'll be inspired by the project when / if he arrives.  There's little to suggest that he wouldn't be.

Sorry, but, again, you are nit picking me (not for the first tine) l. I understand the draw of Barcelona, don't worry!

I want us to sign Felix and have been clear on that. That said, I do I have two concerns about it however.

1. The cost and risk given his last few seasons;

2. He wasn't exactly bowled over by the chance to join us in the last few transfer windows (do I recall comments about him deserving a club of "more repute" or some such leaking last year?). 

I was just responding to another poster that this was my main "negative" about the link. If he comes I hope he is motivated to play for us and I am sure Unai would get him firing if he is up for it.

Edited July 26 by Captain_Townsend

[lexicon]

Just now, Captain_Townsend said:

Sorry, but, again, you are nit picking me (not for the first tine) l. I understand the draw of Barcelona, don't worry!

I want us to sign Felix and have been clear on that. That said, I do I have two concerns about it however.

1. The cost and risk given his last few seasons;

2. He wasn't exactly bowled over by the chance to join us in the last few transfer windows (do I recall comments about him deserving a club of "more repute" or some such leaking last year?). 

I was just responding to another poster thar this was my main "negative" about the link. If he comes I hope he is motivated to play for us.

Arguably it's better if he's had time to think about it and talk himself round as it makes the decision rational rather than snap/emotional. If he's open to it and it makes sense to him, that's a good sign. 

[Adam2003]

9 minutes ago, lexicon said:

Arguably it's better if he's had time to think about it and talk himself round as it makes the decision rational rather than snap/emotional. If he's open to it and it makes sense to him, that's a good sign. 

I mean I think the change (if there is one) is more likely that we have qualified for the CL. I think his big thing was he would only go to a CL club. Which I guess begs the question what happens if he signs and we don’t qualify next season, but I suppose that’s always the case as you step up the levels.

[AntrimBlack]

2 hours ago, Jas10 said:

 

We’re in a better place now lads… better owners and better manager… at the very least. No regressing now.

Correct. Onwards and upwards - with or without Felix.

[PieFacE]

Well Felix is now 4/7 to join Villa. Can't remember exactly what the odds were a day or two ago but it seems to be shortening still. 

[CarryOnVilla]

Once we get confirmation of Duran leaving, we get confirmation this is happening 

[Vive_La_Villa]

10 minutes ago, PieFacE said:

Well Felix is now 4/7 to join Villa. Can't remember exactly what the odds were a day or two ago but it seems to be shortening still. 

A little shorter and I might start believing this may happen.

[imavillan]

12 minutes ago, PieFacE said:

Well Felix is now 4/7 to join Villa. Can't remember exactly what the odds were a day or two ago but it seems to be shortening still. 

they were even money

that said, player transfer and new manager markets are notorious risky to have a punt in.

There are so few bets that it only takes a small wager to move the market odds

[allani]

57 minutes ago, Captain_Townsend said:

Sorry, but, again, you are nit picking me (not for the first tine) l. I understand the draw of Barcelona, don't worry!

I want us to sign Felix and have been clear on that. That said, I do I have two concerns about it however.

1. The cost and risk given his last few seasons;

2. He wasn't exactly bowled over by the chance to join us in the last few transfer windows (do I recall comments about him deserving a club of "more repute" or some such leaking last year?). 

I was just responding to another poster that this was my main "negative" about the link. If he comes I hope he is motivated to play for us and I am sure Unai would get him firing if he is up for it.

Sorry if you think it was nit picking.  It was mainly a (obviously poor / failed) attempt to try and reduce the concern on (2) - as in I think a player turning us down to sign for Barcelona is less of a problem than a player turning us down to play for Spurs or Newcastle.  We've different opinions on some of the off-field stuff but generally on the playing side of things I agree with a lot of what you say - apologies if that hasn't come across.  I'm trying to stay out of some of those threads now because it felt like there was a danger of falling out with people whose views on other matters I usually really enjoy reading.

[cb_82]

Interesting the narrative of given his last few seasons...

16 goal involvements vs Diabys 19 in 10 less appearances with 4 of those being in the champions league

As someone said above this is huge for the club profile and a genuine top tier world known player joining the club if it comes on, i think he will perform on the pitch but the off pitch here we are publicity is massive

 

[villabromsgrove]

45 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

Once we get confirmation of Duran leaving, we get confirmation this is happening 

Interesting point .... signing Felix before Duran has been sold may well encourage other clubs to think that they can offer less for Jhon as he would then be seen as surplus to requirements.

As it stands now we are in a strong position because we obviously don't need to sell him.

[macandally]

So 14 pages, no news or credible links!

Edited July 26 by macandally

[The_Steve]

Just now, macandally said:

So 14 pages, now news!

There aren’t many updates - it’s a complex deal as Atletico won’t sell below €45m because of what they owe to Benfica, according to some Spanish media who also reported that they rebuffed a loan offer. Benfica’s offer was too low. Atletico will only sell. The rest is either gifs or pure wish fulfilment. It’s fine to be excited by a potential deal, but there’s very little updates as it stands because the deal is financially complex. 

[allani]

7 minutes ago, cb_82 said:

Interesting the narrative of given his last few seasons...

16 goal involvements vs Diabys 19 in 10 less appearances with 4 of those being in the champions league

As someone said above this is huge for the club profile and a genuine top tier world known player joining the club if it comes on, i think he will perform on the pitch but the off pitch here we are publicity is massive

I think it is all down to how much Madrid Athletes Co paid for him.  Last season his goal contribution per 90 mins was 0.67 and Diaby's was 0.56.  Despite Diaby playing 50% more minutes than Felix - Felix managed more shots, more shots on target, more passes (although less distance), more tackles, more interceptions, more blocks, more touches, more take-ons, more carries, more aerial duels won.

If you ignore that transfer fee and just compare the stats if we manage to land Felix for anything less than Diaby + 20% then it would be a terrific deal.  Of course stats don't always tell the truth and maybe the PL has some extra strength in depth - but I think that's more than made up for by the fact that with these stat comparisons Diaby played an extra 900 minutes. 

We're not going to be spending €120m on him.

Also worth remembering that I think Simeone lost his rag with Felix when he got injured in a match and Simeone had already made all his subs and he made some pretty poor comments about Felix not being "up for it" - pretty sure that Felix was actually out for over a month as a result of the injury.  So I'm more than a little skeptical of anything coming out of the Madrid Athletes camp relating to attitude.

[Zatman]

41 minutes ago, allani said:

I think it is all down to how much Madrid Athletes Co paid for him.  Last season his goal contribution per 90 mins was 0.67 and Diaby's was 0.56.  Despite Diaby playing 50% more minutes than Felix - Felix managed more shots, more shots on target, more passes (although less distance), more tackles, more interceptions, more blocks, more touches, more take-ons, more carries, more aerial duels won.

If you ignore that transfer fee and just compare the stats if we manage to land Felix for anything less than Diaby + 20% then it would be a terrific deal.  Of course stats don't always tell the truth and maybe the PL has some extra strength in depth - but I think that's more than made up for by the fact that with these stat comparisons Diaby played an extra 900 minutes. 

We're not going to be spending €120m on him.

Also worth remembering that I think Simeone lost his rag with Felix when he got injured in a match and Simeone had already made all his subs and he made some pretty poor comments about Felix not being "up for it" - pretty sure that Felix was actually out for over a month as a result of the injury.  So I'm more than a little skeptical of anything coming out of the Madrid Athletes camp relating to attitude.

Felix was a sub last season more than starting so he came on against weaker defences, tired defences or teams chasing Barcelona to get back in the game

Diaby mainly started from scratch against opposition players at the most alert

[Zatman]

49 minutes ago, macandally said:

So 14 pages, no news or credible links!

[Deano & Dalian's Umbrella]

48 minutes ago, macandally said:

So 14 pages, no news or credible links!

You missed me spending a few hours waiting for what I thought might be exciting tweets to load only to find out they were gifs and memes, and then questioning how my life has come to this

 

[Jas10]