Summer Transfer Window (2024/25)

[Villaphan04]

2 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

Ugarte looks a player hope manure dont get him. Would love him here

absolutely, would be a fantastic addition and an upgrade on Kamara. Don't think it will happen thou. 

[CarryOnVilla]

1 minute ago, Jas10 said:

His stats are impressive and he did well at Luton… but… does that compare to how he would fit in at Villa and the different demands and environment?

He was probably the main man or go to player there… won’t be the case here. A different set of circumstances too.

Most of all, Dougie and Ross are different players with different styles and attributes. More games, at a higher level and more competitive, we need to win many more games and can’t afford to lose anywhere near as many as Luton did… it’s just a whole different scenario.

Stats require context and a bigger/broader view… we’ve got to consider whether incoming players can be consistent and play regularly (or stay injury free and keep up their form for the most part, like Dougie did), especially when stepping up from (far) inferior teams…

lots to consider.

I cannot see a player like Barkley (nor many of the names being thrown around) stepping up to the level that Dougie largely showed and replacing his qualities and contributions… 

We can’t take shortcuts here, we’ve got to step up and become stronger. Champions League is not going to be easy and way harder than the competition we struggled in and got knocked out of…

What context do you need? Barkley was balling for Luton. He was the Barkley that should have been at Chelsea. We all saw it on match of the day. pundits and arm chair pundits were suggesting England call ups as well as other praise. The stats are there just to show it’s true beyond edited highlight clips. Main guy stuff is meaningless, as we wouldn’t hold that against Jack’s time with us. As I said, Ross isn’t  a glamour signing and there’s iffiness in his past. I’m also not suggesting he’s going to be the direct replacement to Doug. Tielemans is probably ahead on that. But Ross is better than we care to admit

as I’m keep saying. I’d love and want to us to sign better midfielders But it’s not a pressing need as we have a full squad of senior midfielders, even with donks and chambers sold. Any more players gives a massive head scratch on rotation. 

[sharkyvilla]

I still think Onana would be a decent signing for us.  He can do the defensive work in midfield while Enzo settles and Kamara returns from injury.  If Enzo does look up to it then I wouldn't be surprised if Kamara was the next player sacrificed if we have to sell again next summer.

[Zatman]

3 hours ago, RicRic said:

Every single link or rumour and Luke Robinson makes a video i think he should wait to see if it has any legs before throwing these out as it lowers his credibility, but anyway have we actually launched a bid on Di Lorenzo ?  

And he makes them sound like they are nearly done deals. Dybala video in January was just cringe

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

Apparently Spurs considering improved offer for JJ.

Let's offer the  Chambers, Coutinho, Dendonker and Carlos + 3 mill for SON and see if they get it...

Edited June 28 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[allani]

1 hour ago, Jas10 said:

We don’t have quality midfield depth, not centrally.

Buendia, Ramsey and Rodgers are not central midfielders. Will play on the left (Emi can go on the right too) or SS position alongside Ollie (seemingly Bailey’s position). They are forwards or attackers.

JJ’s a bit slight (and his ball carrying more useful in attack or out wide) and Emi too small for the physical challenge and midfield battle also. Too lightweight.

Dendoncker and Chambers are well below standard and not in favour anyway, hopefully we finally manage to offload both of them. Totally discounting them.

McGinn… will probably still play RM, LM or SS. We’ve failed in our recruitment if he has to keep filling in at CM or DM or have to play there regularly. 

Even Tielemans is possibly not seen as an out-and-out CM and Unai may continue to prefer him in an attacking role, back to LM and SS. But he’s the main candidate to replace Dougie atm, just hope he can keep fit and maintain sharpness… no more signs of exhaustion and lapses please, as we saw earlier in the season.

Kamara is injured and unavailable for a while.

So… who do we really have as a proper first choice CM or DM to primarily and regularly play in those positions?

Barkley isn’t here yet but will be one option. I’ll be disappointed if he’s seen as first choice or a starter though, not a CL level player for me even if he looked and did well at Luton. Useful for the squad. 

Barrenechea is on the way and is another… might be a big ask for him to come in and try and hit the ground running though… but he’s a better option as backup/alternative DM to Kamara than we previously had.

We have to strengthen and I believe we will. And we should see more sales.

Atm, we could line up in a few different ways but… it doesn’t look all that strong centrally and represents a weaker midfield than the previous season. We need more…

LM - Rogers, Ramsey, Tielemans, Buendia, Iling Jr (other options, McGinn, Diaby, Bailey)

RM - McGinn, Buendia, Diaby, Bailey.

CM - Barkley, Barrenechea, Tielemans, McGinn.

We don’t have enough nor enough quality at central midfield. Not enough “proper” CMs. Imagine that midfield in the CL against tough opposition… we don’t have enough.

I’d be happy to add a high quality CM (creative and capable in attack) and another DM or more rounded CM…

I really feel that Unai and NSWE are ambitious and enthusiastic about the season and bigger/better signings are on the way… yeah, I do kind of expect 2 midfielders to join at and of high quality. That’s not to mention the other positions we will address.

We have to have a better squad and a stronger first 11 if we really want to make our mark in the CL and keep up momentum and progress in the league. It’s big step up, we struggled in ECL and have to be a lot better in European competition.

I agree with most of this.  Personally I still think Rogers needs to play more centrally at an attacker to make the best use of his physical and playing attributes.  The more I see him play the more I think he really could be a CF - in the Ollie mould rather than the Lineker mould.  I think he'd be better as a SS than a LM in the meantime - and a very different option to Bailey or Diaby.

[Follyfoot]

3 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said:

I still think Onana would be a decent signing for us.  He can do the defensive work in midfield while Enzo settles and Kamara returns from injury.  If Enzo does look up to it then I wouldn't be surprised if Kamara was the next player sacrificed if we have to sell again next summer.

was just about to post the same

[Pongo Waring]

Dont rate Onana at all. Belgium Isaiah Osbourne

[nick76]

4 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Apparently Spurs considering improved offer for JJ.

It’s laughable but why do I have a twitch in the back of my mind saying ‘why does Johan Lange think he can get Ramsey? He knows us intimately and probably still has contacts here….why why why…somebody has given encouragement somewhere’…

value is obviously way off but why do they think we would sell when we have cleared our PSR for this year.

[duke313]

7 minutes ago, nick76 said:

It’s laughable but why do I have a twitch in the back of my mind saying ‘why does Johan Lange think he can get Ramsey? He knows us intimately and probably still has contacts here….why why why…somebody has given encouragement somewhere’…

value is obviously way off but why do they think we would sell when we have cleared our PSR for this year.

Was it not reported that the offer was made weeks ago?  Probably chancing his arm to see if we'd bite with PSR breathing down our necks, but Luiz deal sorts that.  This is just the news cycle catching up, making it look like the offer was made recently.  

Edited June 28 by duke313

[Demitri_C]

2 hours ago, Awol said:

One thing we haven’t really mentioned is the loan market, whether that includes options to buy or not. Might be opportunities there to pick up a player or two from the bigger European sides who are ridiculously stacked with super young players who will otherwise rot on the bench. 

Real Madrid seem set to buy another two or three major young talents this summer, and maybe they will look to farm out a couple already on their books. 

Yeah good shout.

Im sure we will get one loan in. I thinkbits gonna be risky not going in with a big squad this season because we have absolutely no idea what we are gonna get out of mings buendia and kamara

[allani]

1 hour ago, CarryOnVilla said:

Champions league is a different format now, it’s not completely stacked against the newbies being lumped in to a group of 2 giants. Our chances of reaching the knockout stage is a lot more open. 

you’re are right the Kamara-Luiz partnership made us great. But once kamara was injured, Doug was average at best. Tielemans ending up being our best midfielder in the post Boub injury era

it may take time to get the midfield flowing, but it won’t take as long as you fear. As Tielemans is up to speed already 

The question mark is how many matches can Tielemans play.  He really struggled to string matches together last season without getting injured (mainly niggles).  Which was part of the reason why Luiz had to play so much and then (unsurprisingly) ran out of steam.  It's easy to say that Tielemans was our best midfielder towards the end of the season - but part of the reason is that he'd got a lot fewer kms in his legs at that point.  Had we been able to rest Luiz in 5 - 8 matches then it is almost certain that he'd have maintained his excellent form at the start of the season much longer.  In the same way that McGinn and Ollie also struggled towards the end of the season.  All three had just played too much football.  We're already looking better placed to ensure that we've got more options to rotate / sub off our midfielders and protect them better over the course of (hopefully!) another long season.

I think we'll see a minimum of three CMs play almost every match (2 starters, 1 sub) possibly four as I can see us subbing off McGinn with a more "defensive" option in some games rather than having to play with Bailey and Diaby.  There may also be some games where a Enzo - Barkley - Tielemans - (insert LM of your choice) combination is preferable to a Enzo - Tielemens - McGinn - (insert LM of your choice).  McGinn will want to play every minute of every game because he's that type of person - but being able to get him in a settled position and give him some "time off" will ultimately help him too.

Even after Kamara comes back I think we're a CM short of the options we need to be able to ensure that we can compete for a full season and also be able to handle the injuries, suspension, drops in form, etc that are part of every season.

[Demitri_C]

19 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Apparently Spurs considering improved offer for JJ.

Let's offer the  Chambers, Coutinho, Dendonker and Carlos + 3 mill for SON and see if they get it...

I know alot wouldnt agree but id like bissouma think under emery he would be excellent.  But doubt we will go for any more DM with enzo and barklwy coming in

[Mazrim]

Adam Wharton? (no link, just putting it out there...)

[PaulMcGrath_5]

7 minutes ago, Mazrim said:

Adam Wharton? (no link, just putting it out there...)

Edited June 28 by PaulMcGrath_5

[Zatman]

9 minutes ago, Mazrim said:

Adam Wharton? (no link, just putting it out there...)

Bayern were told 60 million is his price

[CarryOnVilla]

1 hour ago, duke313 said:

Kamara is going to miss half the season, and may take even longer to get up to speed.  We still need someone to cover his absence, Enzo can't be expected to to that.  I think we'll see someone come in on loan in the DM position.  That we they can cover/rotate for Kamara, but they aren't signed permanently.

See that works. As long as enzo doesn’t pass the sniff test in preseason 

[allani]

56 minutes ago, duke313 said:

I'd be extremely surprised if Barrenechea comes in starts 20+ games.

In all competitions?  I don't think I would be surprised let alone extremely surprised.  I think a few too many people are reading the fact that he played for an "unknown team" like Frosinone and that they got relegated into "he's a bit better than Tim".  Now he wouldn't necessarily have been a name that I picked at the start of the window and I've not seen a lot of Frosinone play this season - however, there's a significant amount of evidence suggesting that Juve would have been very happy to keep him and he's getting some great reviews from people with a lot better Serie A knowledge than me.  It's a big ask for sure and I'm sure that Juve wouldn't have expected him to start 20+ matches next season.  But I have a real feeling that this might be a really good signing for us.  I'm certainly expecting him to feature in 20+ games this coming season.  Frosinone were only 3 points off finishing 13th and Enzo and Soule are credited by most experts as being the primary reason for them being just one result away from a remarkable season.  I think he'll be a lot better than people think.

[Jas10]

1 hour ago, Awol said:

Fermin Lopez is one we’ve already had some weak links to, and Dani Ceballos last summer. Both CMs on the fringes at Real. 

Decent shouts, Fermin’s at Barca not Real. Yeah, we’ve been linked to both in the past, Fermin more recently.

There are some really good options out there, for sure. A good way to boost the squad and our options without spending too much… anyone who does really well can possibly be signed permanently afterwards. The allure of CL football should help us in attracting them too.

Better versions of Lenglet and Zaniolo basically… who played their part but didn’t do enough to justify permanent deals.

Edited June 28 by Jas10

[duke313]

5 minutes ago, allani said:

In all competitions?  I don't think I would be surprised let alone extremely surprised.  I think a few too many people are reading the fact that he played for an "unknown team" like Frosinone and that they got relegated into "he's a bit better than Tim".  Now he wouldn't necessarily have been a name that I picked at the start of the window and I've not seen a lot of Frosinone play this season - however, there's a significant amount of evidence suggesting that Juve would have been very happy to keep him and he's getting some great reviews from people with a lot better Serie A knowledge than me.  It's a big ask for sure and I'm sure that Juve wouldn't have expected him to start 20+ matches next season.  But I have a real feeling that this might be a really good signing for us.  I'm certainly expecting him to feature in 20+ games this coming season.  Frosinone were only 3 points off finishing 13th and Enzo and Soule are credited by most experts as being the primary reason for them being just one result away from a remarkable season.  I think he'll be a lot better than people think.

I should have added “in the first half of the season”. Which he’d be required to do if he’s replacing Kamara. If we don’t sign another DM, Enzo is going to have to play 20 domestic games + 6 CL games before Kamara is back in the pitch. I just can’t see Emery risking our season like that, we’ll sign a more experienced DM in addition to Enzo.