Summer Transfer Window (2024/25)

[Knutserov13]

Just now, GingerCollins29 said:

Why? 

Because I think hes really good and would be an alternative to Felix.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

Just now, Jas10 said:

Bit late there mate

Lovely comments on JJ eh? Again..

FFS.

Yeah just tagged you in the JJ bit.

Haven't had the chance to be on today so guess i've missed a fair bit of updates!

[Follyfoot]

1 minute ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

FFS.

Yeah just tagged you in the JJ bit.

Haven't had the chance to be on today so guess i've missed a fair bit of updates!

not really, same tripe recycled 

[Jas10]

Just now, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

FFS.

Yeah just tagged you in the JJ bit.

Haven't had the chance to be on today so guess i've missed a fair bit of updates!

Yeah, all already posted in all the relevant threads. Lovely reading tbh.

Cam’s gone to Soton for 15m and 2m in add ons. Will help us bring someone in. 

[MaVilla]

8 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Monchi on transfers...

“I’m not sure exactly, but when we start, we have maybe 500 players [of interest]. Normally, we have 20, 25, 30, 35 in every position. But every step it’s reduced and then in the end there’s a shortlist with maybe eight or 10 players for every position.”

“It’s very difficult because when you qualify for the Champions League you might think ‘ok, it’s finished. No it’s not finished, we need to make another step. The most difficult thing is not to arrive, but to stay, to remain in the Champions League."

“We were very clear where we wanted to work in the squad. In our opinion, and Unai is the one who decides, we needed to increase the level of the squad in three points: Physical, first. A younger squad, and to have a more complete squad, so Unai can have more options."

“When you play in the Champions League, it’s very difficult because you need to have 20 to 21 players at the same level. You might play on Wednesday in Paris against Paris St-Germain and then you need to play against Crystal Palace, and you need to have the same level because both games are very difficult. Unai needs to have the option to maybe choose two different starting XIs, but with the same level. This objective, in my head, is an obsession, to build a squad with a similar level in the different profiles and positions. It’s very difficult.”

on Onana:

“For this moment, for the midfield, Unai wanted a physical player that plays well with the ball. We worked in this direction with many names and in the end we signed Onana. He’s a top player, he played in England, his adaptation is easier. But it’s true we work with a big file.”

on Barkley:

“With Ross, it was a personal decision from Unai,” said Monchi. “Together with me, but Unai wanted him 100 per cent because he knows him after playing against Luton twice.

“Unai wanted this profile. A player who is physically good, technical, plays well and can fight. And with experience because we need to play in the Champions League and we need to have some mature players.

“Ross, when we had the first meeting with him at the Belfry Hotel, he was very, very happy to come back. And for me and Unai, that is very important when a player has a desire to play in our club. It’s the first important step. He’s a different profile than we have in the squad. Not Onana, not Kamara, not McGinn, not Tielemans. He is, technical and physical, maybe the most complete player. He can play as a six, a number eight, maybe a number 10.”

on Philogene:

“With Jaden, it’s an interesting story. When he left the club last season, maybe not every day, but every week, Unai would say to me ‘Monchi, maybe we’ve made a mistake to sell Jaden’. Because he played very well for Hull and every week, it was ‘Monchi..’ I would say ‘OK, Unai, but we have the possibility to bring him back’.

“When we had the possibility, we didn’t have any doubts and we fought to sign him. We are very happy because he’s a top player and he’s homegrown, he’s an academy player for the Champions League. An interesting profile for many situations.”

on Doug and Diaby sales:

“It’s true that PSR and the Uefa rules [squad cost ratio] were the primary motivation for the Douglas Luiz and Diaby sales because we needed the profit. But I must say that Unai, me and Damian thought it was the moment to sell them to invest the money in other players, and it was possible to replace them.

“This is what I have done, in my history, when I work in Sevilla. The level of Sevilla increased by selling players, to buy players, to sell players. I think that is the way to increase our level.

“Diaby is a situation because he had a big offer for him and for us it was a good offer because we invested a lot of money when we bought him from Bayer Leverkusen. Maybe our first idea was not to sell him, but when a good offer arrived, we studied it and made a decision.”

on JJ: @Jas10

“If we wanted to sell Jacob Ramsey, we would have sold him already because we had different offers from different clubs. But Unai has big confidence in him and I think that Jacob can continue to improve his level. Last season was difficult for him because of three injuries, but Unai thinks that with Jacob, Aston Villa is the best thing. He’s convinced 100 per cent that Jacob’s level will increase this season.”

 

brilliant read, a real pity they didnt also discuss maatsen, would have liked to hear their thoughts on him also tbh.

[HalfTimePost]

West Ham have had a good window...for them.

They'll cause us issues tomorrow and the signing of AWB and Todibo is astute and good business for how they play now (AWB) and making them a little more progressive (Todibo). Summerville has good potential and Fullkrug could score some important goals.

But one game in isolation (that I expect we will struggle in) will not put them anywhere near us come the end of the window,

• Summerville is a very important signing for them, where as Philogene is a squad filler for us with potential. 
• Fullkrug will need replacing in 18 months and his movement isn't enough to be a top Prem player. He'll score goals but weaken their style and they'll be under pressure a lot as a result
• Kilman is a waste of funds imo
• AWB has a lot to prove. Could be very astute at £15m. Could be a 7 year long disaster.

Brighton always have a good window. We should always be concerned about them.

But they also can't keep hold of a manager so they're very much an upskilled version of Southampton 10 Years ago, replacing players and managers all the time. They're much better than them, and run very well, so they'll be relevant much longer than Southampton were... But they're only just replacing McAllister and Caceido from last summer, have another new manager and style to adapt to.  They'll be good. We'll be competing with them, but I back Unai to do the business.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

1 minute ago, HalfTimePost said:

West Ham have had a good window...for them.

They'll cause us issues tomorrow and the signing of AWB and Todibo is astute and good business for how they play now (AWB) and making them a little more progressive (Todibo). Summerville has good potential and Fullkrug could score some important goals.

But one game in isolation (that I expect we will struggle in) will not put them anywhere near us come the end of the window,

• Summerville is a very important signing for them, where as Philogene is a squad filler for us with potential. 
• Fullkrug will need replacing in 18 months and his movement isn't enough to be a top Prem player. He'll score goals but weaken their style and they'll be under pressure a lot as a result
• Kilman is a waste of funds imo
• AWB has a lot to prove. Could be very astute at £15m. Could be a 7 year long disaster.

Brighton always have a good window. We should always be concerned about them.

But they also can't keep hold of a manager so they're very much an upskilled version of Southampton 10 Years ago, replacing players and managers all the time. They're much better than them, and run very well, so they'll be relevant much longer than Southampton were... But they're only just replacing McAllister and Caceido from last summer, have anwother new manager and style to adapt to.  They'll be good. We'll be competing with them, but I back Unai to do the business.

Yeah West Ham have had a decent window in fairness.

[PaulMcGrath_5]

Following on from the negativity of Tom’s article the other day on here—he’s still predicting us to finish fourth.

 

[HalfTimePost]

1 minute ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Yeah West Ham have had a decent window in fairness.

Yeah definitely, for them. But I wouldn't swap our window for theirs in a million years...and I'm not even that happy with ours so far

[allani]

3 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Monchi on transfers...

“I’m not sure exactly, but when we start, we have maybe 500 players [of interest]. Normally, we have 20, 25, 30, 35 in every position. But every step it’s reduced and then in the end there’s a shortlist with maybe eight or 10 players for every position.”

“It’s very difficult because when you qualify for the Champions League you might think ‘ok, it’s finished. No it’s not finished, we need to make another step. The most difficult thing is not to arrive, but to stay, to remain in the Champions League."

“We were very clear where we wanted to work in the squad. In our opinion, and Unai is the one who decides, we needed to increase the level of the squad in three points: Physical, first. A younger squad, and to have a more complete squad, so Unai can have more options."

“When you play in the Champions League, it’s very difficult because you need to have 20 to 21 players at the same level. You might play on Wednesday in Paris against Paris St-Germain and then you need to play against Crystal Palace, and you need to have the same level because both games are very difficult. Unai needs to have the option to maybe choose two different starting XIs, but with the same level. This objective, in my head, is an obsession, to build a squad with a similar level in the different profiles and positions. It’s very difficult.”

on Onana:

“For this moment, for the midfield, Unai wanted a physical player that plays well with the ball. We worked in this direction with many names and in the end we signed Onana. He’s a top player, he played in England, his adaptation is easier. But it’s true we work with a big file.”

on Barkley:

“With Ross, it was a personal decision from Unai,” said Monchi. “Together with me, but Unai wanted him 100 per cent because he knows him after playing against Luton twice.

“Unai wanted this profile. A player who is physically good, technical, plays well and can fight. And with experience because we need to play in the Champions League and we need to have some mature players.

“Ross, when we had the first meeting with him at the Belfry Hotel, he was very, very happy to come back. And for me and Unai, that is very important when a player has a desire to play in our club. It’s the first important step. He’s a different profile than we have in the squad. Not Onana, not Kamara, not McGinn, not Tielemans. He is, technical and physical, maybe the most complete player. He can play as a six, a number eight, maybe a number 10.”

on Philogene:

“With Jaden, it’s an interesting story. When he left the club last season, maybe not every day, but every week, Unai would say to me ‘Monchi, maybe we’ve made a mistake to sell Jaden’. Because he played very well for Hull and every week, it was ‘Monchi..’ I would say ‘OK, Unai, but we have the possibility to bring him back’.

“When we had the possibility, we didn’t have any doubts and we fought to sign him. We are very happy because he’s a top player and he’s homegrown, he’s an academy player for the Champions League. An interesting profile for many situations.”

on Doug and Diaby sales:

“It’s true that PSR and the Uefa rules [squad cost ratio] were the primary motivation for the Douglas Luiz and Diaby sales because we needed the profit. But I must say that Unai, me and Damian thought it was the moment to sell them to invest the money in other players, and it was possible to replace them.

“This is what I have done, in my history, when I work in Sevilla. The level of Sevilla increased by selling players, to buy players, to sell players. I think that is the way to increase our level.

“Diaby is a situation because he had a big offer for him and for us it was a good offer because we invested a lot of money when we bought him from Bayer Leverkusen. Maybe our first idea was not to sell him, but when a good offer arrived, we studied it and made a decision.”

on JJ:

“If we wanted to sell Jacob Ramsey, we would have sold him already because we had different offers from different clubs. But Unai has big confidence in him and I think that Jacob can continue to improve his level. Last season was difficult for him because of three injuries, but Unai thinks that with Jacob, Aston Villa is the best thing. He’s convinced 100 per cent that Jacob’s level will increase this season.”

There's just so many points for us all to take away from this.  But the key for me is just how closely everyone at the club is working - Monchi, Unai, Damian all seem to be completely in tune with each other.  It follows on from yesterday's "we don't need a meeting every day because every day we are meeting".  Every signing, every potential signing are discussed and analysed by everyone.  Every sale is the same.  I think I can count on one finger the number of times I have seen an organisation where every single member of the senior exec is as unified and in synch with each other as this.  I've seen plenty where it might look like that and then you realise that everyone is saying "yes" to the boss but no-one actually means it.  Here you know that if Monchi wasn't sold on Ross or Emery isn't sold on someone suggested by Monchi - they'll raise their concerns, discuss them without any ego getting in the way and jointly decide on what to do next.

The other thing I like is how you look at the three criteria set and you can see how and why everyone we've signed has been on our list.  They don't all hit all three criteria - but most do.  I know we all knew that these guys would do things properly but I do love the fact that we can now reverse engineer every transfer we've made this summer (and also by extension in Jan) and go "yes", "yes", "yes".  The only possible exception being Dobbin who let's face it was a PSR hack that had benefits to Everton and ourselves and also probably helped with the negotiations on Onana.

[alreadyexists]

6 minutes ago, PaulMcGrath_5 said:

Following on from the negativity of Tom’s article the other day on here—he’s still predicting us to finish fourth.

 

Sadly journalism is all just for clicks now, with no real rigour or insight. I doubt he thinks it’s doom and gloom, and I don’t know if he thinks we’ll finish 4th, but putting that will get interactions as will putting Arsenal to win… 

[allani]

21 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

That’s fair… high potential signings at the very least. Here for the long term and will contribute a lot, a lot for Unai to work with and develop. 

Yep - we're not signing players for the next 12 months.  We're signing a team that Emery can mould over the next 2 - 5 years.  It might take 18 months or longer to see the real value of some of these signings but I do think we're going to look back and this Jan and this summer and say "that's when everything changed" (and that is no slight at all on most of the signings we've made before then).

[MSvillain]

26 minutes ago, MotoMkali said:

 

As I've said for 10 million Lo Celso would be a far far better transfer that Felix. He can play 10, LM and 8. He's mobile aggressive and a brilliant progressor of the ball. 

 

Lo Celso would be a floor raiser, in that position we need someone to raise our ceiling

[allani]

17 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

 

brilliant read, a real pity they didnt also discuss maatsen, would have liked to hear their thoughts on him also tbh.

I reckon it would read something like: he offers more physicality than Moreno, he's younger than the players in that position last season and he gives Unai different options both in terms of the job asks Maatsen to do but also in terms of switching it up between Maatsen and Digne.

[Delphinho123]

Gibbs White would be a great alternative to Felix - albeit he can’t play as a striker. 

[CarryOnVilla]

1 minute ago, Delphinho123 said:

Gibbs White would be a great alternative to Felix - albeit he can’t play as a striker. 

He’d be great to replace a JJ or Rogers. yet in addition to them, I just don’t see a need. Too similar in profile to both of them 

[Jas10]

12 minutes ago, allani said:

Yep - we're not signing players for the next 12 months.  We're signing a team that Emery can mould over the next 2 - 5 years.  It might take 18 months or longer to see the real value of some of these signings but I do think we're going to look back and this Jan and this summer and say "that's when everything changed" (and that is no slight at all on most of the signings we've made before then).

So we’re gonna win the league in the not too distant future?

[MotoMkali]

7 minutes ago, MSvillain said:

Lo Celso would be a floor raiser, in that position we need someone to raise our ceiling

We do not. We need someone who can fill in Luiz/Tielemans role we played vs City and Arsenal. 

Bailey, Rogers, Ramsey and Philogene is all the ceiling raising we need. We need the structure to maximise their qualities. 

[MaVilla]

6 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

Gibbs White would be a great alternative to Felix - albeit he can’t play as a striker. 

different types though arent they.

MGW is more of a bailey/diaby type, where as felix is a more technical/skilful/lock picking type.

i think we do need a Felix type of player to help with the low blocks we will face, and to offer something more technical, if we want to be more direct we have Jaden, Bailey, Rogers etc.

Although, again, i think Rogers is a hybrid between bailey/Jaden and a Felix type.

anyway, my point is, i think we do need a Felix type player.

[paul514]

1 hour ago, Jas10 said:

Agreed?

Errr no I’d prefer AWB over cash and Todibo is better than Carlos and remains to be seen if he is better than konsa but it’s very possible