HalfTimePost

I think we could keep Benteke this summer, however, if we don't Lambert could do a lot with £30m.

Add to that £8m for Bent and maybe £3m for the likes of Ireland, Given and Hutton and we suddenly have £40m. I wouldnt expect us to spend all of that but we could maybe see us spend £30m over the summer and January. It could certainly see us take a step up in our recruitments, where we may have signed say a Bennett we could instead sign a Cresswell. Im against selling Benteke but for circa £30m we could hugely improve the squad (depending on his replacement)

 But over the next few years there's no reason we can't overtake Everton for starters. 

 

Next season I think. New manager, no money to give them to get their own squad, likely to lose atleast Fellaini, possibly Baines, unlikely to reinvest all the money they get for those players.. if we keep Benteke I think we will finish above Everton

Zero chance of Bony, very similar to Benteke this season, has had an absolutely explosive season. We missed the bus on him and then signed Benteke instead. Which is fine, infact it is incredibly encouraging to know that we were after both of them.

It's clear that that type of player (in terms of style of play, potential value of the player etc) is crucial to Lamberts system, as such I wouldnt expect us to sign Aubameyang (who also had a similar season to Benteke/Bony in terms of impact at Saint Etienne) as a replacement, I agree if we were to sign him it would be to play in Weimann/Gabbys role.

Presuming the links last summer to Aubameyang and Bony were real + us actually signing Benteke, that is 3 strikers who have all had superb seasons after being relatively unknown by mainstream footie fans a year or 2 ago. If Benteke leaves just have to trust Lambert to do it a 4th time.

Also, only Messi and Ronaldo have scored more in 2013.

That means Benteke has outscored the likes of Aguero, Van Persie, Rooney, Falcao, Lewandowski, Ibrahimovic etc etc.

So anybody thinking it was going to be a nice case of asking him politely to sign a new contract and him doing so with no fuss about moving is living in a dream world.

If Benteke leaves this summer it's going to be an absolute nightmare just to hold on to Weimann and Lowton for August. We all know the plan though, buy young, up coming players with resale value and try to build the club up around them.

Theres only one reason why you choose players with resale value. It's to sell them. We cannot compete with the top 4, hopefully we find a lot of gems all in one go and manage to take the league by storm and push for Champions League and be the next Dortmund but it's very unlikely. We are more likely to find players on the up, build them up and mix them with players from the academy, all going well we sell a few on for huge sums of money and go again.

Yes, it sucks to lose Benteke after 9 months but if we get £30-40m for him then its a good start to that and we have to put our faith in the scouting network to find another.

Heres another version of the quotes, translated better than Google.

It looks like Aston Villa are set to lose Christian Benteke this summer.

Belgium media outlet Nieuwsblad have printed a story on Thursday indicating that the brilliant Villa forward is pining for a move away from the Midlands this summer.
 

Benteke, 22, is currently on international duty ahead of a match against the United States, and before he boarded a plane to America the centre-forward dropped his biggest hint yet that his future lies away from Villa Park.

Benteke told Nieuwsblad:
 

If Aston Villa says I must stay, I won’t necessarily accept that. I do not in any way want to feel I didn’t get the most out of my career. Of course playing the World Cup in Rio is in my head. But I have no fear of falling out of the team. With my family I will decide where my future lies. 
 

Benteke’s comments have been understood as a come-and-get-me call to the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund.

Christian Benteke scored 19 goals in the Premier League last season, and al those strikes can be seen in one video below.

101greatgoals

Benteke: "If I should stay, I do not put me down as necessary to '

 

 

Christian Benteke traveling as one of the most coveted Red Devils to America. After a great season at Aston Villa, the striker linked with the big clubs in the Premier League.His agent traveled to Birmingham for an interview, but for now there is no question of a transfer. Nevertheless, Benteke 'a solution where all parties better off. " Read: a transfer.

"If Aston Villa says I should stay, I do not necessarily accept that," says Benteke. "I do not in any way hebbendat I'm out of my career, I try to get everything."

 

At a big club risks not play the ex-Genk striker and that may be possible bring World Cup chances in jeopardy. But Benteke is not worried.

 

"Of course playing the World Cup in Rio in my head. But I have no fear of falling. From the team With my family I will decide where my future lies. "

 

Bentekes agent Eris Kismet says no decision comes before the match against Serbia

Poorly translated by Google from here.

Basically saying he wants to get the most from his career.

Nursey of The Mirror saying Lambert is after:

2 Fullbacks (1 being Cresswell)

1 Experienced Centre Half (Lescott)

1 Creative midfielder (Luke Murphy)

Paul Lambert is prioritising improving Aston Villa’s defence after transfer talks with owner Randy Lerner.

MirrorSport understands the Villans boss Lambert wants two new full-backs, an experienced centre-half and a creative midfielder this summer.
 

He is set to bid again for Ipswich left-back Aaron Cresswell, 23, after missing out last summer before getting Joe Bennett.

 

Martin Rose

 

Lambert also wants an experienced stopper - Manchester City’s Joleon Lescott is still on his radar - plus a midfield schemer with Crewe captain Luke Murphy, 23 having been watched several times by the Villa boss.
 

Further signings will be made if Villa manage to offload any fringe players or flops like Karim El Ahmadi.

Richard Dunne has been released while Shay Given, Darren Bent and Stephen Ireland can all go.
 

Lambert is scouting new strikers in case Villa receive an irresistible offer for Christian Benteke.
 

But Lambert and Villa insiders are hopeful the marksman will pen a new contract.

 Mirror

As far as that goes, I would like all of those but I really 100% cannot see Lescott coming in. Presuming Nursey is right (I know, its the Mirror, but still)

              Guzan

Lowton Vlaar Lescott Cresswell

        Westwood Sylla

Weimann  Murphy  Agbonlahor

               Benteke

Could be quite nice! Chuck in a young, direct winger/wide forward (Lestienne would be lovely) and a striker to deputise/replace [next summer] Benteke (Finnbogason for me) and I would be very happy.

But I cannot, at all see Lescott and I think Cresswell will be out of our price range for a left back considering we spent £3m on Bennett just 10 months ago.

Would love Finnbogason at Villa. Think he'd be a great deputy to Benteke and could probably be our replacement for him come the end of next season.

Berbatov to Turkey. Bent to Fulham.

^ No.

As much as I agree with parts of what your saying. We should not, at all be keeping him

Paul Lambert has challenged Villa to surpass the standards from their timely Premier League revival next season after predicting a “busy” summer for the club.

Lambert has been delighted, but not surprised that his faith in his claret and blue youngsters came good at the ideal time to keep them in the top flight.

 

But the boss has warned he is already working on the next phase of his bold Villa vision rather than dwelling on the remarkable recent improvement.

 

“I think the club will be busy and trying to do something, but we have set a standard that we have got to do better,” he said. “You have to keep trying to build your squad and believing in your own philosophy. The club was in a transitional period, everybody knows what’s happening.

 

“If we’d gone on the way we were I think the club would’ve kept on sliding. We had to strip it right back and get it going. Randy Lerner has been fantastic, he understands what we’re trying to do. The performances of the last five months has been really high.

 

“Some of the lads have played over 30 Premier League games so they know what to expect. It bodes well for the future.”

Kendrick, Birmingham Mail

 

Next to no chance of us spending anything like £9m on a player this window without some big sales.

 

Don't like this idea of fans dumbing down expectations with signings. We paid £24m for Darren Bent a couple of seasons back so what is £9M in the greater scheme of things.

 

I am expecting to see us spend £35M - £40M  minimum this summer or I will be really disappointed. The Breakdown is £25M readily made available & the balance £10M-£15M generated from players moving on.

 

With that I expect minimum 7 new players of at least 2 costing near the £10M mark & 5 with the £15M -£20M Balance

 

We have at least £120M coming into the Club with the new tv deal, gate money, matchday revenue, banqueting & Merchandising, so the transfer figures listed above are not unrealistic especially when you take into account the moving on of our vastly overpaid non playing players.

 

Your going to be very dissappointed. I think we will spend around £9m net and about 15-20m in total depending on player sales.

I reckon one £9m signing and one £5m signing (Those being a CB and CAM, not sure which will be the £9m one, hopefully CAM) and then 3 £2m signings.

Along those lines I think if we are to have one 'marquee' signing this summer it will be in the CAM role. I assume this marquee signing would be in the £7-9m range, like Benteke (and assuming we get a good fee for Bent), there are a few youngsters across Europe who would be able to play in that position. A few highly rated players I would like for that position would be:

(I think these players would likely be out of that price range and probably out of our range anyway but just players I would like to see, I can dream a little bit)

Hiroshi Kiyotake (Nurnberg)

Will Hughes (Derby)

Koke (Atletico)

Not really young but Ilicic (Now relegated Palermo)

More of a winger and more affordable Yohan Mollo (Saint Etienne)

Is there absolutely, any chance, what so ever, of Hiroshi Kiyotake? He's been an absolute revelation in the Bundesliga, features towards the top for stats in Europes top 5 leagues for Assists, Key Passes and Completed Crosses.

That would be a coup. Although I assume he is out of our reach

there hasnt been much talk of who people would like to see in this thread like past transfer threads

 

IN - GK, CB, LB, CM, RW, ST

Using that list I think a very successful window would consist of: Smithies, Dragovic, Cresswell, Hunt, Lestienne, Finnbogason

                Guzan

Lowton Vlaar Dragovic Cresswell

          Westwood Delph

Lestienne    Hunt    Agbonlahor

                 Benteke

Bench: Smithies, Bennett, Clark/Baker, Sylla, Gardner, Weimann, Finnbogason

would be lovely. With Finnbogason ready to take the reigns for when Benteke inevitably leaves.

More realistic may be: Smithies, Dunk/Chester, Cavanda, Murphy, Gale, Deeney/Clayton.

Luke Murphy seems to be talked about as being certain to come here.  I cant see Chester coming here now he is in the prem with Hull, especially as his price will increase.  

Think there are a few reasons for it:

• He's been quoted as saying that he feels he is ready to play at a higher level,
• He's very good friends with Westwood, they've played together since they were 9. It's clear to see how highly he thinks of him.
• We've been linked
• He was in the Football League Team of The Year
• Right age, and plays a position we need players for
• Lambert has definitely been to see Crewe play, likely to watch Murphy (I'd also take Max Clayton!)

I dont think its 100% nailed on. But it just has a lot to back it up. From reading that interview with him on our OS it's clear to see he has the mentality that Lambert would want, he isnt going to cost the earth. Probably £2-3m if Crewe hold out on us. We'll see but I'd like it to happen.

I'd be pretty confident of Murphy signing for us this summer, right age, right price, right position. Aspas would be nice but absolutely no chance of that happening. I also cant see Stocker or Dragovic happening. Would absolutely love both to happen.

Cresswell would be nice and I wanted us to sign him over Bennett last summer, considering Bennett was injured when we signed him and his form ever since, I'd say going for him over Cresswell would be a mistake on Lamberts part in an otherwise stellar transfer window last summer. (although I assume would be based around monetary constraints). I cant see us spending enough on another left back to get Cresswell though. Imagine it would take £5m and think we'd be more likely to try and pull in a £2m-£3m leftback to compete with Joe.

All the players mentioned in that post would improve us though and be very good signings. Good post.

Just tweeted he is sat in the away end tomorrow so he's definitely not playing haha.

Maxime Lestienne btw guys:

 

0:48 Seconds on this video

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnpvnOSWwvI

 

And here is one of those compilation things

 

 

20-year-old Polish "winger" that likes to cut inside and score goals, 17 this season for Brugge and 10 assists. Skillful, quick and is a good finisher - I think he would work well in our system.

 

Again I look to Belgian Guy as he is more of an expert with the Jupiler League, but I think he would be a good signing. Was linked with Man City and Everton a few years ago.

He's Belgian, but agree he could be a good player for us and our system. Probably not too expensive either. £3m?

Another Belgian in the team could be good for keeping Benteke too. Not to mention how well Belgian players seem to be taking to the Premiership.. Him and Cavanda could come in very cheapily, perform well in areas we need depth in the squad and befriend Christian and get him to stay haha.

With our Category 1 academy status though we should be poaching the best youngsters anyway, like what Arsenal have done to us with Crowley. It's harsh and not a nice part of the football business but it could be incredibly effective for us.

But hiring some scouts to basically scout the youth teams of clubs like Crystal Palace, Southampton, Crewe and Sheffield United and poach the best of what comes through as they can sign professional contracts would be hugely beneficial.

Of those clubs, only Southampton also have a Category 1 Academy, the other 3 all have Category 2. Meaning if we sign one of their players aged 12-16 we would only have to pay £25k* per year they have been there from the age of 12. (+£3k for every year they were there between ages 9-11).

Meaning it is very possible the likes of the next Wilfried Zaha, Victor Moses, Nathaniel Clyne, Matt Lowton, Kyle Walker, Kyle Naughton, Ash Westwood, Nick Powell, Max Clayton etc etc for a *maximum* of £109k. 

Potentially an absolute steal.

Then give these players time in the NextGen series and loan them out to some feeder clubs would be lovely.

*And only 40k a year if we were to sign some Southampton youngsters. A maximum of £169k for the next Shaw, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Bale or Walcott also an absolute steal, although with the huge success those players have had (plus their club doing similarly to our own) I imagine it would be harder to poach theirs.

I'd be quite the fan of having Crewe, they give youth a chance in a huge way, play the game in the right way too, so would be great to get the likes of Grealish and Graham a season there to really spur their careers forwards. Plus it should help Crewe out.

Then, when they look at selling their talent, we can go in for them plus send a potential replacement back on loan if need be.

i.e. Sign Luke Murphy, send Grealish, Carruthers or Johnson to them in return

Sign Max Clayton, send Drennan or Burke the other way for a season.

i dont know much about our kids as i dont really follow you the youth set up, is jack a left winger or left footed centre mid?

Seen him once or twice, think he can play either CAM or Left Wing but think he is more than technically gifted enough to be a permanent CAM behind a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 eventually. Really think him centrally with Graham on the wing will be the future for us.

I always thought we paid £3m for him. (Which is still a massive bargain for the player that we got).

If that is true that we paid £900k for him. Then that is an absolutely huge bargain.