ryu.yokoi

Great news. Its all up to Tim now - this kid has huge potential and importantly a huge attitude, he plays like he believes he will be great and being second (or third) generation will know the work it takes. We'll have to manage and expect a few hot head moments and not be too surprised if he goes on strike when United or Chelsea come offering us big money for him...

Andre has always looked the better player for me, although I haven't watched Jordan for around 18 months so have may have come on a lot in that time (I'm hoping so!) different players though. I think we need someone like andre (attacking midfielder who wants to boss the game) and a true 9, i think jordan plays more as a 7 (atleast for ghana playing off gyan) so isnt a cb replacement but should imply fewer opps for gil, sinclair, etc.

Its the kind of signing we need to start making if we are going to be competitive over time - young, talented, needs developing. Always impressed by him and his brother for Ghana. Do wish it was his brother we'd signed though...Andre has enormous leadership, whereas we will have to be so careful in coaching up Jordan and keeping his head straight from the accounts I've read.

Wonderful news.Need to keep our good players or extract full value when we sell.

Fantastic game from Carlos tonight. This is where he really thrives and has earned his reputation - you ask him to man mark the best guy off the opposition and he is unreal. It simplifies the game for him - still intercepts and distributes, but less second guessing and over thinking - suddenly looks world class. Was the same at the WC last summer where he was asked to focus on the '10' of the opposition in each match, and of course, his famous masterclass on Messi at the Copa America 4 years ago. For those asking, Colombia usually play 4-2-2-2 under Pekerman. He was also especially motivated for this game: a mental error on his part (not sensing Thiago Silva free behind him while defender a corner) cost Colombia the qtr finals against Brasil last summer and I am certain he has spent the past year dreaming of a chance to play them again.

So proud of this side. 10s for everyone.

So proud of this side. 10s for everyone.

Just awful. Shocked by how poor he has played given what he is capable of.

Nice to see Carlitos in claret and blue! Staff are definitely going to work with him on gameplan as it looked like Carlitos was just playing by read and second guessed himself a bit - but that will come with time and getting more familiar with teammates too. He is good at the midrange pass (particularly changing field), but he is usually uncomplicated and prefers to dump off. I liked the impact it had on Delph's game though, he was a live wire after a few minutes! The macron kit collars are awful though! Carlos and Cissokho barely get their necks in...

Bienvenido Carlitos! So excited to have another Colombian in claret and blue. And finally a pure five to break things up and cover our back four. For those asking on his number, I think it is because of his preferred number 6. He used to wear 15 for the Colombian nt, until it was vacated.

Just watching him closely in that game... he will fit in here.. in a team with 30% possession! Lets not expect the world of the poor guy.. i think he may need time to settle into the pace of the Premier League. Makoun got hung out to dry pretty quickly as did Berson in a similar position. Hope we give him time and dont expect him to light the premier league on fire or anything. He is a completely different player than those two. He is not about finesse and doesnt try to be cute. He is fast, physical, and has four lungs. I hope folks dont get confused thinking weve signed James or Cuadrado here - this is the guy who does the dirty work so you can afford to play with a pure 10 like James in a WC. He has done well against Messi on several occasions. Tends to have his best games when asked to mark an opponent off the field. I dont know of his speaking English, but he picked up french fast, hopefully wont be an issue.

thats a week old.

Diego Rueda @diegonoticia · 8m José Sepulcre, presidente del Elche, confirmó en Caracol Radio que solo falta la firma para que Carlos Sánchez sea jugador del Aston Villa President of Elche has told Caracol (Colombia radio) that the only thing missing is Carlos' signature. Given the news I posted earlier, would seem that Villa must have agreed to trigger the release clause, as Sepulcre was holding out according to Marca. (Haven't been able to find the audio of the interview, but Rueda is one of Colombia's better known futbol media personalities and a host on Caracol itself)

Just wanted to provide a more useful translation (or the gist) of the Marca article posted earlier as the google translate posted was pure gibberish: http://www.marca.com/2014/08/13/futbol/equipos/elche/1407926327.html Key things: - Villa began contact with Elche about a possible deal on this past Saturday - Sanchez has refused to train the past two days because he (and his handlers) are trying to force a deal to Villa - Elche is a little club with big financial constraints (they sold a % of rights to their players a few years ago to a 3rd party so they could have cash to stay afloat) - Sanchez has a release clause in his contract with Elche and the Spanish club is desperate for Villa to trigger it -> they A) need the money and believe that they will have to share a lower % of the eventual sale to the 3rd parties that own an interest in Sanchez if he is released from his contract rather than sold. (Frankly, I've never heard of that before, but it is what Marca alleges - the article states that Elche would owe 50% in a sale and none to third parties if the release clause is triggered). - Elche are playing slowball with Villa trying to get them to pony up the full release clause (figure is not mentioned in the article)

Hey brother. What you need to know about Carlitos: - Not your traditional Colombian player. He was discovered young and taken to play in Uruguay where he made his name at the club level prior to earning a move to play for Valenciennes in Ligue1 where he played several seasons. (Similar situation to Falcao, Eder Balanta, James Rodriguez, Guarin and many others in the current Colombian international set up who have played none or very little minutes domestically) - He is a true '5' - he breaks up play, covers well for the centreback or advancing fullback when they get into attacking positions (Colombia plays with two very aggressive fullbacks in Zuniga and Armero) and keeps it simple. Not particularly cultured with the throughball but does change the field well and plays tidy. Covers a lot of field and known for his lungs. - Particularly strong at man marking opposing creative players. He consolidated himself in the Colombian NT by man marking Messi beautifully (and without a card) at the last Copa America. - Known for being a good 'practice' player that coaches like. - He would be a great signing for Villa and fill a need we've had FOREVER. However, I do have to note that even by South American standards his contractual situation has been considered bizarre for ages, I worry if Villa have pulled out its due to stuff discovered during due diligence (x football stuff).

C'mon boys! Lets have a signing! But it is the most expensive transfer ever. Inflation isn't taken into account for transfer records, otherwise the most expensive player would probably be from the 20th century. What is annoying is the wankfest Sky are currently having over it though. They do the same thing with movies though whenever they report box office opening records.

cool!

Just hope for the best and expect the worst. Until we see him holding a kit up and/or taking an embarrasing shot at a physical exam, Believe nothing!

Ha! I dont know how THIS hasn't been tossed around the past few days...in this interview last month (prior to the Confed Cup), Kiyotake notes that he wants to play in the Premier League on day! http://www.soccer-king.jp/sk_column/article/114330.html?pn=2 Nobody hyperventilate.

Yeah! Its gibberish, which is why I asked the Penguin... Hmm..hopefully he was just being coy/professional in stopping the line of question, rather than putting end to the speculation...

Gambarimasu Penguin! Hey Penguin - care to translate, http://www.sanspo.com/soccer/news/20130709/jpn13070905050000-n1.html Article covers a public appearance by Kiyotake visiting kids impacted by the earthquakes last year. At the end there is reference to Villa's interest in Kiyotake, but I can't tell if he makes reference to it in his quote. Would you let us know whether he does?

Gambarimasu Penguin!

Nothing new from Sanspo in tmrw's papers from what I can tell...

If thats how the release clause was written. you could alternatively set it up so the selling club could have first option to match new wages, or for that clause to become activated once a player triggers via performance, or if this speculation is right, you could set it up so that the selling club has to sell once the clause is triggered but can choose amongst the bidders (for example, they might do that to protect from losing a player to a competitor). Contracts are all negotiated individually and anyone claiming to know whats written into kiyotake's is being just as itk as the twitter peeps everyone here is bashing. (I am not claiming to know either, but can imagine ways that a selling club be able to sell above an exit clause depending how its written from when fcn first brought him over). The only thing we know so far is that there was an enquiry and various media sources have speculated offers and clauses that could be paper talk. That nothing hasnt happened immediately could mean its all rubbish or that negotiations are taking a while, both being scenarios that happen all the time. That is not actually a release clause then is it? It's just the club agreeing to sell a player at a certain price to some clubs and a different price to others. A release clause implies the club must release the player even if they don't want to, be it to a competitor or any other club. I've read the types of clauses you describe above reported in press as 'release clauses' in the past. More complicated or differently structured release clauses, would likely still be reported as a 'release clause' in the end. P3te gave a nice example above of how fine print in one might lead to extended negotiation, one can easily envision a clause written to favor the selling club by giving them agency to select the winning bid so long as they are above the agreed floor - if you're the players agent you might take that to get some freedom for your player if the club is otherwise unwilling to include one in the contract. Not claiming to be ITK, or that the above is whats in the guy's contract, but if its whats being reported or tweeted or whatever, the fact you or I haven't seen it done before doesn't mean FCN's lawyers didnt write it in that way.

You're right, there are a huge amount of variants on clauses. However everything suggesting that a clause exists says it's a minimum fee clause, they're pretty straight forward. You meet the fee, the player can talk to you. Thinking about it, there could be argument about the structure of that fee. Clubs don't pay for players up front in one go, for example, and the parent club might argue that the fee is only relating to a single cash payment, rather than a structured deal with payment coming in installments. Perhaps that's why we bid £600k below - we might have offered the full price in a structured deal, but they said that doesn't apply to the clause as it's only relevant to an up front payment, so we came back and offered the clause less £600k straight up, which they then rejected However, in both cases, that would mean the clause was NOT triggered - the alleged ITKs have said that it has been good example.