Wes

1 minute ago, duke313 said:

Wrong Brugge 

Haha amazing. Will leave the post up in case we went across town and scouted Club Brugge too 

29 minutes ago, duke313 said:

Who are we looking at?

We could simply be scouting them because they are in the other Semi Final against Fiorentina in the Conference League.

Antonio Nusa is their most talked about player. 19 year old winger who almost signed for Brentford in January I think, but had a knee injury/issue that scuppered that... Spurs were also keen.

Maxim De Cuyper is a talented full back on their books. He's a winger turned defender, typically left back but they have another good young left back so he's been playing right back for them aswell. Has been linked with PSG in the past. Very attacking, good engine, would align with what we do on the left side with Moreno and offers versatility to fill in at RB when needed.
 

It's a tricky call to make. Speaking purely financially, selling Ramsey would be pure profit which would allow for much greater flexibility in the market.

From a footballing point of view, Ramsey is particularly unique in that he is a starting calibre player, with promising potential, for us who counts as Club-trained for UEFA competition purposes.

If the determination is that the squad needs a lot of strengthening in terms of depth, I can see Ramsey being sold to make it easier to sign a larger number of players.

9 hours ago, duke313 said:

Monchi, get your scouts to São Paulo. He’d be devastating as an LM under Emery.

West Ham apparently interested in him.

Sign me up.

10 minutes ago, AntrimBlack said:

Is there talk of Archer coming back?

I have no idea how he has performed this season.

Sheffield seemed to be a difficult choice for a young striker.

We are obligated to buy him back as part of the agreement when we sold him to Sheffield United in the summer. So he will most likely rejoin us on July 1st when the new Premier League registration year opens. Whether or not he stays with us during next season or not is up for debate, but I imagine he will have suitors in the Championship.

What the obligation buyback fee is, it's not been made public.

2 hours ago, Taxahunter said:

Maybe going back in for Dani Ceballos? And I would like to keep Zaniolo

Like that idea. I think getting an experienced head in makes sense, especially for a relateively lower fee. Lo Celso is another one, he'll definitely be leaving Spurs this summer.

Some transfer tid-bits in John Percy's Article regarding Emery's new Contract

"Emery is targeting two centre-midfielders [one holding midfielder and the other a box-to-box], wingers and a centre forward in the unlikely event of leading scorer Ollie Watkins leaving for a huge transfer fee."

Whilst this was never in doubt, this is the best news the club has had since Emery took over as manager in the first place.

Everyone is playing sub-par, but we are not able to get Douglas Luiz on the ball due to their efficient shadow pressing on the back four.

I think a rejig might be needed, McGinn playing alongside Dougie, Tieleman playing as the second striker with Bailey wide right when he comes on.

4 hours ago, Mazrim said:

Ferdi Million?

This is utterly sensational. Touche.

From David Ornstein's Transfer Guide this morning:

On Jacob Ramsey

Quote

 

A player generating concrete interest is Villa midfielder Jacob Ramsey, with the England Under-21 international catching the attention of numerous clubs in both England and abroad.

Newcastle United have made an approach for the 22-year-old as they attempt to bolster Eddie Howe’s side, although unless they manage to achieve a significant sale, he is likely to be beyond reach.

Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich are also among the sides to have made their admiration for Ramsey clear, so if Villa opt to let the academy graduate exit they will not be short of takers.

That is a big ‘if’ because Ramsey has established himself as a key player and ideally this would not be a consideration. But funds must be raised before the end of June to stay compliant with profit and sustainability rules and that has alerted suitors, who believe offers above £50million will at least be contemplated.

Should Villa decide to keep Ramsey, there are other ways in which the money could be found.

 

On Jhon Duran

Quote

One way is via the sale of Jhon Duran. The Colombia striker joined Villa last January but has struggled for game time and goals. Unai Emery is not the biggest fan but Chelsea do like him.

Duran, 20, is viewed by the west London team as possessing vast potential and they have held dialogue about possibly doing a deal — provided the price reduces to a level they deem fair.

The prospect may be complicated by the ex-Chicago Fire forward being injured, however that does not completely rule out a switch as Duran would be seen mainly as a talent for the future.

Hermoso on a free would be a very shrewd signing. Similiar profile to Torres. Can also play LB if we want to play a defensive minded LB (much like if we put Pau out there), so offers something different to Alex Moreno.

Hermoso at LB when Frimpong (or equally more attack minded player) is playing RB?

Think this signals Digne will definitely be off in the Summer, which I think from a squad building point of view is the right thing to do due to his huge hit in wages. Hermoso and Moreno combined will likely be on same salary as Digne by himself. Also Digne only has 2 years left on contract this summer - last chance to sell him for a reasonable fee, generally with 1 year left the fee is usually discounted (better than losing for nothing).

I like these moves, particularly for younger players who are having to move country. By signing him now, and even loaning him back, we know he will be with the squad Day 1 of pre-season so he will be able to spend time in the summer before pre-season finding somewhere to live - getting all of that sorted in the gap between season end and pre-season started just gives greater opportunity for success as he integrates in to the team.

Romano isn't the source of this update - it's come from Rahman Osman and Romano is just riding the trending wave (as he does).

And "talks" do not mean anything anyway.

Martinez
Cash - Konsa - Carlos - Pau
McGinn - Kamara - Luiz - Coutinho
Diaby - Watkins

With Pau naturally staying back more, I think we could get away with Coutinho playing in front. That's the position in the 11 I'm most unsure of.

Noticed in the latest training video he was training with the First Team alongside Archer and JPB from the youth setup. Might be filling in alongside Chambers as the 4th/5th choice CBs for the time being, although a loan may be best for his development. Will be interesting to see what happens but he's quite clearly well thought of within the club.

1 minute ago, HalfTimePost said:

Why have you done this

Why have you quoted it?!

Matteo Moretto is usually highly reliable. Think this would more likely signal that Digne is on the way out, as has been speculated all summer?

Cash and Digne AND Bailey? Whew this is going to be an open game.

52 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Apparently going to be having a sit down with rob dorsett on sky sports to discuss how he has settled at villa and that he is looking for more signings 

Available to watch here.

Timestamp start is 44:30 on this video (Rob Dorseet intro). Monchi interview itself starts at (45:30)
 

Trying to look at any kind of silver lining to the Buendia news, at least it occured whilst the transfer window was still open.

With the horrendous news that Buendia has suffered a bad knee injury, our left side is really worrisome.

I wonder if we see Tielemans in and either him or Dougie moved to that advanced/left sided midfield role now. Might be a big ask for JPB to start day 1. Coutinho maybe?

Big blow and a big call to be made by Emery in the very first weekend.

Get well soon Emi. Will be a big miss.