Wes

55 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

waiting for these links for young attacking south american players to get round to thiago almada...

Another interesting talent. He's heavily linked with a move to Marseille this summer. He's in the Argentinian team for the Olympics so I don't know how that would affect a deal for them, time wise.

54 minutes ago, Jareth said:

Is it now easier to pick up non EU talent cos Brexit or something?

Specifically South American players at top tier clubs there.

The primary reason being that the Copa Libertadores is now given the same weighting, points-wise, as the Champions League. So if you have a South American target playing regularly at a club in this competition, especially if they're in Brazil or Argentina, they will now almost always automatically qualify for a work-permit.

Douglas Luiz been named in Brazil's Under 23 side for the Olympics.

The Final, should Brazil progress that far, is the 7th of August. That is one week before the Premier League season starts so it will be interesting to see how and when he is integrated back in to the squad (I speculate that he may not be selected until the end of August/September so that he gets enouch rest).

Tuanzebe looks to be going out on loan for the whole season so that's one off the list. I do think we'll be signing a Centre Back this summer.

Perfectly fine with this. A veteran presence in and around the dressing room, which is something Smith obviously values, that adds depth in a number of positions for a minimal outlay that means we can allocate transfer funds for players more likely to start in the first eleven.

I think we're going to be looking at a young Centre Back to eventually take over from Mings to partner with Konsa within the next couple of seasons.

Tuanzebe maybe because of the previous link there. He is someone who I think will leave Manchester this summer as he only has one year left on his deal and United are looking to sign Varane or some other Centre Back to partner with Maguire.

I think our board will look elsewhere - someone with a profile like Loic Bade from RC Lens who is showing significant potential at a very early age and is comfortable playing on the left side, if not necessarily left footed.

1 minute ago, Jas10 said:

 

2nd bid???

This post is from 9 days ago. We know from the Athletic article none of this is true.

Think we can add this account to the ignore list.

8 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

If he was left footed then I could see it but there's no way we buy a RB from chelsea

At 18 we don't even loan him 

He only has one year left on his professional contract. Chelsea are trying to buy Hakimi from Inter to play RWB. They have James and Azpilicueta there too. His route in to the first team is stuck.

If he wont sign a new contract (and agree to be loaned out) Chelsea will likely off load him this year to get some kind of money + sell-on clause to him.

It's been stated many times that we're being very aggressive about adding quality to our youth ranks in any way possible. Look at the outlays recently on Shakpoke, Barry, Swinkels and Bogarde. This would be more of the same.

1 minute ago, bobzy said:

Hasn't it been quoted somewhere that we'd looking at players with English football experience?

Not saying that we wouldn't look at the continent (it would be daft to rule out players from abroad completely), but I don't think we'll be focusing resource there.

That has been said somewhere you're right (Birmingham Mail and/or The Athletic maybe).

My thinking is that that specific requirement is for those players who will be, more often than not, playing in the Starting 11, such as Buendia. It makes sense that if you're paying a lot of money for Starting 11 players, you would like to know they've performed at a good level in the Premier League before. 

However for backup players (of which any new full back would be considering Cash was only purchased last year and Targett is signing a new deal) it makes sense to also consider utilising the continental markets where time and time again we have seen that bargains can be had. Now if someone like van Aanholt comes to us and is quite happy to understand his place in the current pecking order (Targett is the starter, you're the backup pushing him for his place) then that's great. Although I think PvA, Bertrand etc. are also likely to get offered either more playing time or higher wages at other teams (particularly Bertrand because he helps with the Home Grown issue) compared to us.

It's about allocating the transfer kitty in the most efficient way possible. Also you've got to think with this being both Lange's and Mackenzie's first Summer window they've had adequate time to properly prepare for, I think it's more likely than not that we get someone from outside of the UK.

Just my own opinion on the situation though. I've got a lot of faith with the current setup and are both excited and interested to see how they approach adding to the team over the Summer. They're already off to a great start.

Fantastic signing. The numbers speak for themselves.

Also really like that he was our clear number 1 target for this summer and that we got him and got it done early. Also, by all reports, we were very convincing due to the nature of our approach which speaks highly of the vision that Lange, Smith and everyone in the staff conveyed to Buendia as well as the strong characters we currently have in charge at the club.

Very promising indeed.

I think Lange will look to the continent for value for that backup to Targett role.

We've been linked with Ghislain Konan from Reims which makes a lot of sense. 25yo - so can sign a 3/4 year contract and still have value. Has played International football before which helps with the new Work Permit rules. Most importantly he's only got one year left on his current contract so is a prime value transfer target as clubs hate losing players on frees. He would likely be "cheap" in the modern-day sense that it probably wont be in excess of £10m.

New development:

I expect some people will be watching the Argentina v Chile WC Qualifier tonight (or more likely the highlights tomorrow) to see if Martinez plays and perhaps Buendia too.

One name I would also keep an eye on to see if he gets any minutes is Julian Alvarez. 20 year old wide forward/winger for River Plate who has been called up to the full National side for these set of qualifiers. Would be the kind of speculative signing for a talented youngster that I would like us to see us have a go at. His contract is up next year so I can see River cashing in this summer. With Emi and possibly Buendia at the team, we would be a very good environment for a young Argentinian to join in to (although he has already played in Europe - at Real Madrid as a youngster).

3 hours ago, WooJung said:

But can you get better value at the right price? That's the issue really, as the priority spending shouldn't be on Cashy's back up option 

Agree with you completely.

I had a general search around at likely available options this summer and I think you would be looking at someone like Djibril Sidibe from Monaco for a similar value (who was on loan at Everton for a year so would tick the prior Premier League player box) if you want an experienced player as backup.

If you went for a younger backup there's plenty more options, but then you're adding another potential obstacle to Kesler's pathway to the First Team down the road and Cash is pretty young himself anyway.

Unless a real potential talent becomes available (maybe someone from Barcelona B who are desperate for money) I personally would rather stick with Guilbert. He knows how we play and what Smith will ask of him. That's just my personal preference though. It'll be interesting to see what the powers that be at the Club decide.

Tough to decide what to do with Guilbert. He has two years left on his contract and has just had a great loan spell. It purely comes down to his character and Smith's view on him.

His value is going to be at his highest right now if the club want to sell him. I believe we would need to bring someone in as backup if Fred was sold as it's too early for Kesler (who would definitely benefit from a loan spell out somewhere). 

My opinion would be to keep Fred one further year, send Kesler on loan, then reassess the position next summer.

Thank you Dean Smith.

Incredible! What a ride this thread has been so far this summer. It's not over yet, but this would be a truly amazing signing.

Appears to be back in training with the Werder Bremen team today.

Just now, useless said:

Reports in France that we've bid for Ismaïla Sarr.

The GFFN Article that references we've entered the race for Sarr is here.

Was clearly not happy coming off tonight, but I think between him and McGinn it was the correct call.

Signing of the summer without question.

The quotes in the press release with reference to the Owners and also those about building the team around Jack are very, very encouraging.