eholm

9 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

I think it's too expensive and we should just move on to other targets. 

Eventually that point may come.....however, we only have speculative info as to what we have offered so far and what BL want. He is clearly UE/Monchi's option for our RWF/RW role so part of me thinks we should go for it - within budgetary reasons. 

IMO, he will be a Villa player by the end of the week. There is no way Monchi and UE would continue to pursue him if they had not received strong assurances that we are his favoured move. 

As for his ability, there is no doubting he has one thing  we are so sorely lacking - out and out pace. However, I also beleive that he is not just a speed merchant and has demonstrated consistent output from his recent seasons. Here is a relly in-depth and anayltical article on his time in Germany:

https://theanalyst.com/eu/2023/07/moussa-diaby-chase-huge-statement-of-intent-by-ambitious-aston-villa/

Every signing has risk....but i see more chance of Diaby being a success than a failure if he continues to progress the way he has.

2 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Not sure I agree.  We don’t need much for this team, we are generally a quality squad.  What we need now is some top tier talent, just one or two for the near future in the attacking areas and then we can really kick on.  I think we are at the next phase from the previous phase of needing quantity or £20-30m players, we now need those change makers and that means more often than not a higher price or wage bracket, and probably both.

Yeah, I see where you are coming from. Agree we need a higher level of talent than we already have so that some of last seasons first XI certs become more rotational. However, I just can't see us spending £50-60M on a singe player. Torres at circa 30M will be our range, imo. We need to move on some dead wood but sales will not provide us with the financial power, bearing FFP in mind, to shop in that market.....yet.

I would love to be proved wrong as long as any very high prices are paid for top drawer, finished product players -  but to be honest we are not yet attractive enough to those players (mainly CL seeking players). So interesting to see how the window plays out. 

5 minutes ago, romavillan said:

Which is precisely the market we need to be in, we'd need CL football to justify dropping £50m each on a couple of players. 

100% - we are not in that environment yet. A few £25M-30M signings much more realistic than a few £50M+ signings. Steady progression throughout the whole club is the key to sustained success.

He's obvioulsy downplaying his excitement 

40 minutes ago, Tayls said:

This summers all a bit of a disappointment a couple of weeks in isn’t it, if we are just basing it off the rumours so far… seems like a lot of rejection at this point. 

Oh dear God

2 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

Guendouzi would cost us 30-40m and he wouldn't offer enough more than Tielemans to make up for that cost difference. Especially as that money would get put to use on other positions

Agree...bigger picture and all that, re squad reinforcements vs finacial resources. Also, YT's tackling stats are up there with all other CMs in the league, surprisingly. 

3 hours ago, Keyblade said:

Purslow got more money from them than we ever had from a sponsor. It's job done as far as he's concerned. It not looking aesthetically pleasing to fans is irrelevant to him and the club frankly.

Exactly mate. Fans want multi million £ signings yet moan when the club looks to maximise its revenue with biggest shirt sponsor in our history just because logo doesn’t look great . 
We HAVE to increase our revenue significantly to reduce the prohibitive impact of FFP in the future. 

2 minutes ago, maqroll said:

Yeah, I guess. 

I'm sure we have been used like this in the past but with NSWE now running things we are a much more effective and efficient outfit and it is hihgly unlikely that we would tolerate any such antics, imo.

On to the next one 

Getting ready for the 'why are always used by agents to get a better deal/move etc, etc, blah, blah' ....

We tried to sign a top calibre player who is probably out of our reach at present...he chose to go elsewhere. That's it....no agendas by anyone...move on.

The fact we are even in the coversation for these level of players is, for me, the biggest indicator of how much we have progressed as a club.

Bring it on  and enjoy the Summer ride.

2 minutes ago, HeyAnty said:

I don’t think it would but its a good question.  Who is our highest profile signing.  Collymore at the time was big

Collymore was at the time but not internationally. At present, Couthino is but MA would instantly become the highest profile signing and the statement of intent would be absolutely huge, imo. 

In terms of calibre, reputation, ability and age profile, if we sign Asensio it would be the biggest signing in our history. What a player. 

11 hours ago, Mazrim said:

I'm not so set on who should be a starter now. I'm of the opinion you get 2 or 3 players for each position and let them earn it. Maybe Torres and Mings are the ones who earn it for a while, maybe Konsa and Carlos take it from them. But we need the competition and depth. Mings and Konsa have definitely played well enough to be 2 of the 4 / 5. We don't don't know how Carlos is fitness wise yet and there's another spot for a top CB, with one of the better kids (maybe Feeney) as the cover.

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if we get 8 in with almost as many leaving.

GK, RB, CB, LB (if Digne leaves), CM, CAM, FW, ST.

100% this. We need to change our mindset in regards to ‘who will X replace’. It’s not about that anymore in modern football. The only reason Unai has kept pretty much the same XI is simply due to lack of options. He will want multiple options for each game and that game’s tactical plan. 

The days of a settled starting XI are gone……or they should be once Unai finalises his recruitment. Never before has the 25 man squad been more important and/or relevant than the XI. 

7 hours ago, MaVilla said:

do you genuinely think he is a top 6 striker?

Absolutely. He is still feeding off relative scraps in terms of service and chances. As our overall creativity improves, with new additions, he will continue to be our top scorer and a very good striker for a top 6 team which is where we aspire to be in the next couple of years. A top 4 player?…..that’s a different question for, hopefully, another conversation in a few years. 
Right now he is an extremely all rounded striker and perfect for Emery’s set-up. 

This would be a fantastic signing. Immediately replaces Bailey in the starting XI as the wide right forward. Great pace and dribbling skill with an eye for goal (although not really an out and out CF). As a partnership with OW this has huge potential and gives us the right sided threat we so desperately need. At the quoted price if circa £35M this would be very astute business and gives us genuine attacking threat with genuine pace - something as a squad we desperately lack. 

2 hours ago, ozvillafan said:

He does some wonderful things when given space.

However, when under pressure as soon as he receives the ball - and especially with his back to goal - he turns possession over far more than he should and often immediately

Needs to learn from McGinn on first touch and ball shielding in central midfield.

Fully agree. Whether it’s a physicality issue or just lack of awareness, most of the times he receives the ball with his back to goal he is easily tackled and/or muscled off the ball. Needs to improve a lot on this if he is stay in the first XI once UE recruits in the Summer. 

6 minutes ago, PieFacE said:

We've had a lot of luck in recent games and we had none today. Still, even though the result was an absolute killer, there's still a lot of positives to take especially offensively. Defensively we were an absolute shambles which is quite uncharacteristic of this team under Emery. So will put it down to one of those games. 

I know it's largely a useless comparison, but even though the result today was horrific, the game today was still largely more enjoyable than anything we saw under Gerrard this season. 

We just need to get the balance right between defense and attacking, was quite lopsided today and I'm not sure if that was due to Kamara having a bad game or not. 

Balance, as you say, is the key. UE has often stated how he wants us to be more assertive and control the game more at home. Hence why we saw a more attacking approach with a higher line. Unfortunately with this comes a more defensive vulnerability with a mid-table ability squad. (Reminded me a bit of the Liverpool game). Couple this with some very poor individual errors and results like this happen. Unai is still trying to find that balance and also backs himself to improve the standards of the players with his coaching. 
All of this takes time - we knew this from day one and all expected bumps in the road and some bad runs of form. 

We are the quintessential mid-table team who are not terrible, not great but who are often inconsistent. UE’s task now is to see who he can improve to take onto the next step with him along with the multiple players we will sign in the Summer. 
This is the classic transition season so let’s try and stay sane and measured as this won’t be the last bad result but it really is a means to an end and that end is UE transforming this squad within the next 6-12 months. Enjoy the ride. 

Think we will get a loan as now have a free space with Bednarek leaving. Not sure which position but would guess a striker if no move for Dembele.

Frees up a loan space - possibly for a striker imo.

4 hours ago, Made In Aston said:

I'm sure jonathan kodjia's highlight reel looks quite similar. 

It was tongue in cheek really….little dig at the ‘YouTube Compilation’ phenomenon

However, joking aside I do actually think he would be a good fit and give us something we haven’t really had since CB in regards to profile and apparent strengths. One can hope. 

1 minute ago, Delphinho123 said:

Yeh, but we've signed some players with terrible youtube clips in the past. At least he seems to have a good video to back him up! 

Too true, mate!! Small steps.....

Absolutely.

Look, i know its a 'youtube special' but every transfer is a gamble and for what should be a moderate outlay on a 26yr old player there are way more pros than cons, imo. 

46 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

 

Well, thats me sold