Summer Transfer Window (2024/25)

[paul514]

40 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

So whats the wheeling and dealing so far this summer:

in: Barrenchea, Iling-Jr, Barkley, Maatsen, Dobbin - 75m ish?

Out: Luiz, Kellyman, Timmy, Sanson - 75m ish?

 

Looks like a £1 in, £1 out type of thing? (aka: sell to buy).

less than 60 on the In's

60 on the outs

[Jas10]

27 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Luiz and Tielemans, replaced by Tielemans and Barkley….feels like we’ve gone backwards in that dimension.  Added to that our successful period was Luiz and Kamara, so now we are unlikely to have Kamara until new year so our midfield has really weakened.  Maybe one more CM coming in will cut it but if that’s it then I think we will be weaker in the middle than last season which is a hard pill to swallow.

Bang on… don’t think we will go with that but if we do, we are worse off and it would just make the challenge even more difficult.

Too many people seem to be overlooking the fact that Dougie was super comfortable in possession and passed the ball incredibly well - that’s what we need to replace in the side. The only comparable option with similar capabilities (but actually inferior or inconsistent in other areas) is Tielemans. That’s not enough but there’s also nothing to suggest that Youri could sustain consistent availability and form over the entire season. He has had his struggles, even if he did improve and ended up doing really well - can he maintain or sustain that though? And he shouldn’t be the only option…

This is what Dougie gave us -

Not even mentioning Kamara… but he was just as important in his own way… and won’t be back for a while.

I’m really sad that we have lost the Luiz-Kamara double pivot and it’s going to take a lot to improve or better that… maybe we can do it but we need to spend.

Maybe Enzo can give us some of that, but it feels like a big ask… maybe with some time. 

-

We have to, at the very least, get someone in that midfield who can pass it as well (as Dougie did) and help us maintain control and provide creativity. Maybe other players (such as attackers) can take on more or other parts of the role he had and give us those qualities… His delivery was exceptional, it’s not something that’s common or typical in CMs or box to box players. 

Unai has constantly spoken of control and structure, it’s obvious he wants technically gifted pass masters in his team. And we’re losing one of, if not the, very best that we had.

Until we sort that out and bring someone in who makes us stronger in that regard, at least, we’re not really better off or looking formidable.

I don’t want to sacrifice first 11 strength/quality for squad depth (not that I think that is the intention), what we need is both, for both to be better and stronger. 
 

We got knocked out early in both domestic cup competitions (didn’t do ourselves justice in any sense, embarrassed even) and struggled in the Conference League (against lesser known and/or inferior teams too), barely impressing on our way. And tbh, we were kind of fortunate to get past Lille.

We did brilliantly to finish 4th in the league (that was our achievement), especially with all the disruptions including injuries, suspensions, fatigue. Superb.

Next season, the challenge will be even greater and the opposition and games will be more difficult. And… I think we would like to do better in the League Cup and FA Cup too…

For that… we need to strengthen. And we have just lost one our biggest contributors and best players, let’s not forget how good he was in 2023.

If we went into the season with what we have now… I can’t lie… I wouldn’t be feeling super confident. I would envisage some struggles…

Fortunately, we don’t have to and we won’t… there is plenty of business to be done yet. So it’s best to be a bit patient and look forward to additions I think…

I’m sure Unai and Monchi have a plan or an ace or two up their sleeve… we have time.

But basically… yeah - I don’t think Tielemans and Barkley is the answer. 

Edited Monday at 22:45 by Jas10

[ender4]

44 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

So whats the wheeling and dealing so far this summer:

in: Barrenchea, Iling-Jr, Barkley, Maatsen, Dobbin - 75m ish?

Out: Luiz, Kellyman, Timmy, Sanson - 75m ish?

 

Looks like a £1 in, £1 out type of thing? (aka: sell to buy).

Plus Zaniolo and Lenglet out as loans ended. 

We think Archer re-signed for us today 1st July but no confirmation by anyone. 

We also expect Coutinho out this week either on loan or with us paying him to leave.
 

Edited Monday at 22:43 by ender4

[Jas10]

32 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

I think we'll need to get another one in, not sure if it will be DM or box to box player.

Personally would go for another DM as we just concede too many goals without Kamara so that needs to be the first priority.

Tielemans-McGinn will still be o.k for some games but asking a lot for Youri to be available every 3-4 days when the season gets into full swing in September-October.

We need much more than OK, we’re going to be playing in the CL (and Unai has said that he wants to sustain it, doesn’t want to finish lower in the league or get knocked out early. We want to keep this going), we can’t just settle for a “decent” team or midfield. It needs to be class.

And just adding a DM doesn’t really suffice, we need regular/consistent passing excellence and creative ability… 

If Enzo can step up, that will save us some money. But we need that high quality, technical CM.

-

Yes, based on past evidence, Youri will not be able to manage the workload (like Dougie did) or maintain the consistency if he can show his best form… he gets exhausted and he gets injured… and that leads to lapses.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see another two midfielders join, but we certainly need at least 1.

We still have players to move on too… so should be able to make space.

Edited Monday at 22:55 by Jas10

[Leeroy]

Yeah right now we are weaker compared to last season. Think we’re a bit stronger at left back with Maatsen but central midfield is for me a fair bit weaker. Luiz and Kamara at this moment would probably be replaced by Barkley and Tielemans in the team and that is definitely weaker especially as Tielemans is better in a more advanced role.

 

Not signed a right back or centre back either so as it stands Cash or Carlos would still be starting. 

 

Still a few weeks to get it sorted but if we went into the season like this you wouldn’t expect us to finish in the top 5 or do much in the champions league even with Unai in charge.

[Jas10]

A Barkley or Gallagher simply cannot do this… or on this level.

I’m not totally sure that Tielemans can either, but he’s the best we have atm.

We may be able to get different aspects/contributions from different players… e.g. an attacking player could be our set piece taker instead.

A defensive player or our DM could make the most tackles and interceptions…

Our attackers can score more goals… can we see anyone breaking his record of consecutive goals (at VP) anytime soon? Maybe if we get consistent and quality delivery to Ollie… or our WFs consistently fire…

My concern is… where is the consistent creativity and delivery from midfield going to come from? I think we need a new guy… 

[Jas10]

 

[Jas10]

It’s not easy to replace part of the team’s spine…

not impossible… but difficult.

To play so often and create so often… only top players are capable of it.

Dougie’s passing accuracy was regularly around 90% (season average 91% but sometimes as high as 97-100% in individual games). And this wasn’t just safe or sideways passes all the time, he created more chances for us than any other player. 
 

Edited Tuesday at 00:10 by Jas10

[Villa Gaffa]

Hopefully the next few weeks sees the departure of Chambers, Hause, Dendonker and Coutinho with transfers or loans as they are no longer needed or good enough.

I think all the new players will be part of pre season and probably players returning like Archer, Chrisene, Barry etc also. 

Any sales from Cash, Duran, Carlos, Digne, Moreno means we still have new targets to bring in which in my opinion would be a good thing. 

[Anything11]

1 hour ago, Jas10 said:

It’s not easy to replace part of the team’s spine…

not impossible… but difficult.

To play so often and create so often… only top players are capable of it.

Dougie’s passing accuracy was regularly around 90% (season average 91% but sometimes as high as 97-100% in individual games). And this wasn’t just safe or sideways passes all the time, he created more chances for us than any other player. 
 

Can you just make a single post to make your point? You have included the same graphic in two of them dude.

Dougie was A+ for a year and frustrating the rest of the time. He will be replaced either by a new signing or a shift in structure and responsibility within the team.

[abdulaziz1]

12 minutes ago, Anything11 said:

Can you just make a single post to make your point? You have included the same graphic in two of them dude.

Dougie was A+ for a year and frustrating the rest of the time. He will be replaced either by a new signing or a shift in structure and responsibility within the team.

He was good in his ssecond half of the first year, then second year. His only bad spell was when not playing under Gerrard. He wasn’t at his best while playing DM but he wasn’t bad at all.

[Jas10]

14 minutes ago, Anything11 said:

Can you just make a single post to make your point? You have included the same graphic in two of them dude.

Dougie was A+ for a year and frustrating the rest of the time. He will be replaced either by a new signing or a shift in structure and responsibility within the team.

Flipping hell… that’s twice within a few hours that members have tried to moderate me it’s not your job.

Just allow others to comment as they like, if it bothers you ignore it. No one is the boss around here. If it’s that much of a problem, go ahead and report it!

I wanted to express my thoughts, freely. Not under someone’s restrictions or influence. That’s what we do here.

And we don’t need to get upset or annoyed if there’s a difference in opinion or disagreement and try to force anyone to have the same view as ours… 

I refuse to slate or condemn Dougie, or any player, for a few disappointing displays (especially when there are valid or contributing factors or reasons) when they have been excellent and very important for the most part. 

My point is not so much about Dougie either, he’s no longer our player, it’s about what we’re losing/missing and what we need to replace or restore, or even improve upon. Again, most of the names being mentioned aren’t up to it or different types of player (sometimes completely).

Some would be fine additions but would not give us the same thing.

Anyway, I’ve covered it.

And I have faith that we will sign players that make us better and improve us overall, but we’re not there yet.

Edited Tuesday at 00:40 by Jas10

[Jas10]

2 minutes ago, abdulaziz1 said:

He was good in his ssecond half of the first year, then second year. His only bad spell was when not playing under Gerrard. He wasn’t at his best while playing DM but he wasn’t bad at all.

Yeah, some people are ignoring the reasons why his form tailed off and that he wasn’t the only player that was affected in that way,  most of the team did and we kind of just got over the line in the end. The weakness of our squad was exposed during the latter part of the season.

It’s easier to criticise or pile on a player when he’s leaving (and to make yourself feel better) although he has received plenty of flak (some of it justified) this year…

He excelled when he had a quality and capable DM with him and didn’t have to go back to that defensive role, when that option wasn’t available he had to go back there again so was obviously going to be curtailed to a degree. We all said and knew that we would see a better version of him when he was given more freedom and less defensive responsibility, and that’s exactly what happened (have we forgotten?)… and having Unai to learn from made him even better. He excel at creating chances and scoring goals, more than defending - we all know that.

Let’s also not forget that it was Dougie’s form after lockdown, under Deano, and in that DM role that played a massive part in us avoiding relegation. 

Anyway, I think I’ve said enough on him and it’s not his thread… plus we’re all more interested in who’s coming in and going to replace him. I’d just like to see better or more suitable suggestions… or even just different ones.

The sooner we sign such a player, the better… and I might shut up then too

[RicRic]

13 hours ago, HalfTimePost said:

So at the moment we likely have the below (assume Donk sold and Kamara missing time)

Obvious gaps imo, particularly in midfield

• DM ( Kamara understudy)
• CB, maybe X2 if Mings is off the pace and Konsa is still deemed a RB
• RB, obviously
• Striker: Archer/Duran replacement
• 8, need a Dougie replacement. 

I'd probably have that as my priority order as well to be honest. It's a risk having Dougies replacement further down the priority but Tielemans/Barkley/McGinn/Ramsey should be able to cover it *IF* the DM next to them is up to snuff. If Kamara is due back soon, I'd push Dougies replacement further up the priority

This would be more how it would look but none of us know for sure how it pans out, think we need a hybrid forward one that is an absolute beast in that forward area capable of playing off left and as main striker like Ollie rather, id only assume these are positions we are going for. BTW Barrenechea plays where Kamara would, so he would be covering for him.
 

In case Barrenechea is not up to scratch we would then rotate things but we would need to ensure the Luiz replacement is already a serious baller who can boss and control this area of the pitch which will then ease the pressure off Enzo. 

70% - New RB
30% - New CB 

Not certain on which one but could even be both tbf. 

[RicRic]

14 hours ago, HalfTimePost said:

So at the moment we likely have the below (assume Donk sold and Kamara missing time)

Obvious gaps imo, particularly in midfield

• DM ( Kamara understudy)
• CB, maybe X2 if Mings is off the pace and Konsa is still deemed a RB
• RB, obviously
• Striker: Archer/Duran replacement
• 8, need a Dougie replacement. 

I'd probably have that as my priority order as well to be honest. It's a risk having Dougies replacement furtherfg down the priority but Tielemans/Barkley/McGinn/Ramsey should be able to cover it *IF* the DM next to them is up to snuff. If Kamara is due back soon, I'd push Dougies replacement further up the priority

We should probably use the loan market for lets say a back up CB

Edited Tuesday at 00:54 by RicRic

[zab6359]

1 hour ago, Jas10 said:

A Barkley or Gallagher simply cannot do this… or on this level.

I’m not totally sure that Tielemans can either, but he’s the best we have atm.

We may be able to get different aspects/contributions from different players… e.g. an attacking player could be our set piece taker instead.

A defensive player or our DM could make the most tackles and interceptions…

Our attackers can score more goals… can we see anyone breaking his record of consecutive goals (at VP) anytime soon? Maybe if we get consistent and quality delivery to Ollie… or our WFs consistently fire…

My concern is… where is the consistent creativity and delivery from midfield going to come from? I think we need a new guy… 

I doubt we will be getting a like for like replacement for DL those contributions will just need to be spread out amongst the team.

[zab6359]

1 hour ago, Villa Gaffa said:

Hopefully the next few weeks sees the departure of Chambers, Hause, Dendonker and Coutinho with transfers or loans as they are no longer needed or good enough.

I think all the new players will be part of pre season and probably players returning like Archer, Chrisene, Barry etc also. 

Any sales from Cash, Duran, Carlos, Digne, Moreno means we still have new targets to bring in which in my opinion would be a good thing. 

Don’t see Digne going Moreno is the one most likely moved on then Digne and Maatson will fight it out for starting LB. Also be surprised if Cash is sold.

Edited Tuesday at 01:25 by zab6359

[Demitri_C]

6 hours ago, Leeroy said:

Yeah right now we are weaker compared to last season. Think we’re a bit stronger at left back with Maatsen but central midfield is for me a fair bit weaker. Luiz and Kamara at this moment would probably be replaced by Barkley and Tielemans in the team and that is definitely weaker especially as Tielemans is better in a more advanced role.

 

Not signed a right back or centre back either so as it stands Cash or Carlos would still be starting. 

 

Still a few weeks to get it sorted but if we went into the season like this you wouldn’t expect us to finish in the top 5 or do much in the champions league even with Unai in charge.

I agree that CM area looks weaker than last season im aure a nother dynamic CM will be signed as we cannot go in with that CM this summer 

Luiz added a hell of a lot to our team and his injury record was really good 

[picicata]

6 hours ago, Leeroy said:

Yeah right now we are weaker compared to last season. Think we’re a bit stronger at left back with Maatsen but central midfield is for me a fair bit weaker. Luiz and Kamara at this moment would probably be replaced by Barkley and Tielemans in the team and that is definitely weaker especially as Tielemans is better in a more advanced role.

 

Not signed a right back or centre back either so as it stands Cash or Carlos would still be starting. 

 

Still a few weeks to get it sorted but if we went into the season like this you wouldn’t expect us to finish in the top 5 or do much in the champions league even with Unai in charge.

I don't often agree with you but I think you are 100% correct here.

Let's all hope for a good end to the transfer window

[CVByrne]

7 hours ago, Jas10 said:

Bang on… don’t think we will go with that but if we do, we are worse off and it would just make the challenge even more difficult.

Too many people seem to be overlooking the fact that Dougie was super comfortable in possession and passed the ball incredibly well - that’s what we need to replace in the side. The only comparable option with similar capabilities (but actually inferior or inconsistent in other areas) is Tielemans. That’s not enough but there’s also nothing to suggest that Youri could sustain consistent availability and form over the entire season. He has had his struggles, even if he did improve and ended up doing really well - can he maintain or sustain that though? And he shouldn’t be the only option…

This is what Dougie gave us -

Not even mentioning Kamara… but he was just as important in his own way… and won’t be back for a while.

I’m really sad that we have lost the Luiz-Kamara double pivot and it’s going to take a lot to improve or better that… maybe we can do it but we need to spend.

Maybe Enzo can give us some of that, but it feels like a big ask… maybe with some time. 

 

Ok so let's just mention something. Listing the total amounts in stats without it being per 90 is a pointless stat. If I played twice as many minutes as you and had 1 more amount of chances created then would I be better?

So Tielemans is better at creating chances than Luiz. Tielemans has 2.22 shock creating actions from open play to Luiz 1.83. Tielemans has 0.89 goal creating actions per 90 to Luiz 0.3. Tielemans has 2.28 tackles per 90 to Luiz 1.74

The point I'm making is we have Tielemans who is more than capable of playing Dougie's role in CM in defensive and creative respect. Tielemans is just better than Dougie at those and watching them last season confirmed it (especially when Tielemans played the more defensive CM with MCGinn). 

What we don't know and where I have concerns is about consitency in build up and tempo. Luiz was excellent at that and it is very important for the CM role. The other is around Set Pieces and Penalties we need. Barkley has taken plenty of set pieces but his aerial threat is needed in the box more from corners. So who is our right footed corner taker now?