Summer Transfer Window (2024/25)

[Tubby]

1 minute ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

 

Can anyone check if he's been liking twitter and Instagram posts from United or Fulham?

[The_Steve]

3 minutes ago, Tubby said:

Can anyone check if he's been liking twitter and Instagram posts from United or Fulham?

Twitter likes are now private. Did he not delete Instagram?

[Demitri_C]

I like that we are trying to get our business done early.

I think thats key for pre season 

[Jas10]

20 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

 

Oh FFS… Jhon gonna be scoring 96th minute winners for Manure against us

[Tomaszk]

Just now, Jas10 said:

Oh FFS… Jhon gonna be scoring 96th minute winners for Manure against us

Maybe.

He would blow up horribly though. 1000% he'd be looking to move again next summer if he heads to Old Trafford.

[Jas10]

1 minute ago, Tomaszk said:

Maybe.

He would blow up horribly though. 1000% he'd be looking to move again next summer if he heads to Old Trafford.

Toilet team.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

3 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

Oh FFS… Jhon gonna be scoring 96th minute winners for Manure against us

You just know it don't you?

[Demitri_C]

Is this correct? If so we really do have incredible people woeking behind the scenes at villa park

 

[Jas10]

5 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

You just know it don't you?

Will probably celebrate like Adebayor too

[AshVilla]

Imagine if Duran ends up at Fulham 

[mikeyp102]

3 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

I must admit, I didn't have "complete squad rebuild" down on my list of things that would be happening this summer when last season ended.

We're a lot busier than I thought we'd be.

I’m not sure a complete rebuild but I always thought we’d have to make changes. 
I always thought that if we had to sell for PSR, Dougie would be the one to go and then we’d need to replace him (which may be with 2, who can perform different roles at different times).

I also thought that the fullbacks were weak and that we’d look to replace there with at least 1 new each side. 
 

It’s a big ask to get them gelled fully from day one, but Emery will have plans and work around a for it. The spine of Emi, Torres, Konsa, McGinn and Watkins will still remain so a good basis to work off 

[Steero113]

8 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

Will probably celebrate like Adebayor too

It’s the child’s stool that’s thrown on the pitch that gets me every time

[Delphinho123]

21 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Is this correct? If so we really do have incredible people woeking behind the scenes at villa park

 

I’ve always said it. Go woek, go broke. 

[Dillon66]

3 hours ago, allani said:

There was an awful lot of stuff going on at Roma at the time Monchi was there - interferring owners / president ( who gave specific instructions on players to sell and buy), a significant tactical change in terms of the way that Di Francesco wanted to play compared to the way that Spalletti did before and the teams that Monchi had previously been involved with, etc.  Probably the biggest issue though was that Roma were trying the Director of Football approach and by most accounts the type of players Monchi was asked to buy did not fit into the style of play that Di Francesco wanted to play. 

Many of those issues didn't apply at other clubs that he has been at and certainly don't apply here.  Our owners don't tend to get too involved in the small things - trusting their senior appointments to do their jobs.  Monchi and Emery seem to be very united in terms of their vision for the team, the style of football they want to play, the players that will fit that system and appear to spend a lot of time discussing those players.  Indeed it seems that Emery determines the type of player he wants, Emery and Monchi discuss players that appear to meet his requirements and then Monchi is responsible for actually doing the deal. 

A good parallel for assessing Monchi's time at Roma would be to compare the form of players here under the reign of Gerrard and their performances with Smith and Emery.  Players who were **** with Gerrard weren't necessarily bad players they were (mainly) good players under terrible leadership.

Monchi was also (in my opinion) unfairly blamed for a lot of the issues that Roma were having (by the owners who were actually the main problem!) and was fired before some of his signings had a chance to settle - in hindsight many of his signings were actually pretty good.  Certainly his hit rate was pretty much in line with what you'd usually expect given that a lot of them were gambles on youth prospects.

Karsdorp - has been a pretty solid performer for Roma since he arrived.  Not my favourite player but you'd definitely put him down as a hit.

Under - a terrific young talent who caused quite a stir when he first joined.  Unfortunately a string of injuries and dodgy hamstrings have meant he's never quite lived up to his potential but still a hit.

Pellegrini - very good signing. Bit prone to injury but on his day one of the best players at Roma.  Hit.

Moreno - only played 5 matches for Roma but they made a small profit on him when they sold him the following summer.  Neither a hit nor a miss.

Gonalons - similar story.  Played 20 matches and did OK.  Then spent a few seasons out on loan and the fees / transfer fee when he left covered his initial purchase fee.  Not a hit but not really a miss either.

Kolarov - excellent player.  Big hit.

Defrel - signed for his potential which never really worked out and so he spent most of his time out on loan.  I think Roma signed him for €5m on loan originally which would have been OK.  But signing him permanently was an odd one.  Miss.

Schick - this is a difficult one really.  At Roma you'd definitely class him as a miss (50+ appearances and I think 8 goals) but he's done really well in the Bundesliga and is a key player at Leverkusen.  Sometimes players just don't work out at a club or in a specific league.  A good example of the right player at the wrong club?  A (expensive) miss for Roma but a (great value) hit for Leverkusen.

Silva - cheap emergency 6 month loan so ignoring this as it was only ever to provide depth following injuries.  n/a

Nzonzi - probably the worst of Monchi's signings.  Although he was a fixture in Roma for the season he was there it never looked like being anything other than an expensive flop.  Big miss

Pastore - there is a lot (and I mean A LOT) of evidence that Monchi was told to buy Pastore (against the advice he gave the owners) who thought he'd be the big name signing they wanted to fill the hole left by Totti's retirement.  I mean quite honestly without spending upwards of €50m Roma had no chance of replacing Totti.  Pastore was definitely not the answer.  But I don't think you can pin this on Monchi.  I suspect he'd say that he should have stood up to the owners more and refused to do as he was instructed.  This signing above all others is the one that is used to beat up Monchi but 95% of the blame in my opinion sits on the President of the club at the time.  So I'd mark this one as n/a.  It is similar to trying to blame the recruitment team for the signing of Coutinho (except Pastore was a much bigger flop).

Kluivert - signed as a promising 18 or 19 year old for something like £15m I think.  Probably never quite hit the heights that he might have expected to - although I thought he looked decent for Bournemouth last season.  Although I think that it was a gamble worth taking I think you'd probably have to mark this as a (near) miss.

Santon - again there is lots to suggest that Monchi was told to sign Santon by the club President.  So it is hard to pin this on Monchi.  I've marked this as another n/a.

Zaniolo - as I have said multiple times in the Zaniolo thread - this guy was nothing short of sensational when he arrived at Roma.  It's a bit like signing Cole Palmer or Phil Foden as an 18 year old for £5.5m.  Up there in my top 5 favourite players for Roma since I first saw them back in the 1980s.  Injury scuppered what would/could have been one of the best signings of the last decade.  Whatever you might think of Zaniolo's time here - when he first broke through he was Roma and Italy's big hope for their next generational superstar.  Massive, massive, massive hit.

Olsen - wasn't convinced at Roma.  Not convinced here either.  Miss.

Coric - another youngster signed for around £5m.  Didn't make it at Roma and been out on loan pretty much the whole time.  Miss.

Bianda - pretty much as above.  Miss.

Cristante - probably one of Roma's most important players (arguably their most important player).  Big Hit.K

Mirante - the archetypal reserve keeper (now at AC Milan).  It is always difficult to judge the success of a player signed to pretty much never play.  His stats when he did play were decent so a very small Hit.

Fuzato - another reserve keeper brought in to be backup to the backup.  No stats. I'll call this one a small Miss.

Marcano - signed on a free transfer to provide defensive cover.  Made a dozen appearances and sold the following season for €3m (all profit).  Small hit.

In total I think Monchi spent something like €250m whilst at Roma but that brought in 21 players so works out around €12m per player.  You can look at Karsdorp, Pellegrini, Kolarov, Zaniolo and Cristante as being very good signings.  There's a handful of reserves who were gambles either way.  But at the end of the day I would say that your view on how Monchi did at Roma probably comes down to your views on three signings (assuming that Cristante and Pellegrini counterbalance Nzonzi):

(1)  Who was to blame for the signing of Pastore (and to a lesser extent Santon).  I think based on everything I have read this is one of those situations where the Club President told Monchi to sign him and he did the best deal he could for a player that Roma should never, ever have signed.

(2) Schick.  A big budget signing who failed pretty badly at Roma and yet has gone on to be pretty successful in Germany and will probably be on the radar of a lot of clubs this summer.  Is it a bad signing, an unfortunate victim of circumstance, a player not fitting a particular style of play?

(3) Zaniolo.  For me this still ranks as one of the best signings of the last decade.  Basically signed as a youth player and within 3 months was THE big hope for Italian football.  Injuries, some "growing up" issues and a very public fallout with Mourinho have probably tempered the success of the signing somewhat.

 

Very good insight, thanks. I'll defer to your greater knowledge of Monchi's tenure at Roma.

[sharkyvilla]

9 minutes ago, Steero113 said:

It’s the child’s stool that’s thrown on the pitch that gets me every time

How can grown adults get that angry about football?

[MaVilla]

Just now, sharkyvilla said:

How can grown adults get that angry about football?

maybe it was just an angry, and very strong child??!?!

[John]

1 hour ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

 

So what swaps are Fulham and the Manc's offering us then?   

[Jas10]

29 minutes ago, AshVilla said:

Imagine if Duran ends up at Fulham 

That little bit closer to his dream club…

[MSvillain]

40 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Is this correct? If so we really do have incredible people woeking behind the scenes at villa park

 

The net spend would be about £10m based on the figures banded about 

Edited June 20 by MSvillain

[CarryOnVilla]

14 minutes ago, John said:

So what swaps are Fulham and the Manc's offering us then?   

I can’t even imagine a man united player I’d swap for Duran