Wes

In the Athletic article linking us to Tyler Adams it states that the club are willing to listen to offers for Dendoncker.

Full Article is here (paywall) - https://theathletic.com/4634876/2023/06/23/aston-villa-transfer-tyler-adams-usmnt/?source=emp_shared_article

Another one we were linked with - Dani Ceballos is signing an extension with Real Madrid until 2027.

Talk today that West Ham will bid for Guendouzi, timing with the outgoing of Declan Rice.

Premier League terms each round of fixtures a "Matchweek", not "Gameweek". Gameweek is only used in the Fantasy game.

1 minute ago, Kiwivillan said:

Is Las Vegas Villains still happening?

Not anytime soon. San Diego's bid got the expansion team slot. That brings the MLS up to 30 teams now. I recall that the current commissioner wanted to get to, and stop at, 32, but they're in no rush to.

It's something our ownership can revisit down the road.

So PSG have matched our offer from the sounds of it. So be it if that's his preference. Practically a guaranteed cup win and CL football! We tried, we move on.

2 minutes ago, lexicon said:

@Wes Personally, I think Foyth is the best option but do think AWB could be a very good candidate too. I'm wary of players coming out of the Eredivisie given how much lower a league it is these days and how players like Antony have got on. For a starter, we need to be going for as ready a player as possible IMO and I think it'd make sense to pay the big bucks for that rather than spend half/two thirds but risk it. 

Absolutely can be happy with either. There are many positivies to Foyth I agree - you could happily drop him in the starting XI from Day 1. AWBs home grown status and likely slightly cheaper fee just shades it between the two for me - but he might not even be available. Depends what United decide to do.

I also like Arnau Martinez, I know @sne and @thabucks have mentioned him before. His release clause is very tempting, but he is perhaps not as Day 1 ready as Foyth or AWB. He exhibits the right traits, just needs to be developed more.

Real Madrid's last game of the season is at home this weekend. Doubt we hear anything prior to that, except that he is definitely leaving the club, which is pretty much confirmed at this point anyway.

Sad news. Think he really wanted to come back, obviously played a huge part on the pitch and also just as a person in the squad. He'll be missed.

Hopefully at some point in the future he does come back to play some role within the club.

For context, £130k a week is close to what we were paying Danny Ings.

Also I believe the early rumour suggested he would get a £10m signing bonus if he joined us. So you could say West Ham have funded this chance for us.

1 minute ago, HKP90 said:

So if we did get Asensio, I take it that means no Guendouzi? Isn't he a right sided midfielder?

Not at all. Asensio would come here to play the second striker/right sided forward position. That's what he wants to play, and also where he best fits Emery's current system he puts out. Alongside the money and almost guaranteed gametime, it's probably why we have such a good chance of getting him over PSG etc.

Guendouzi can play any of the midfield positions. Central and wide. One does not preclude the other.

Similiarly, signing Asensio does not mean we wouldn't still be in for Williams, Goncalves, Barnes and others talked about for other forward minded positions.

Just now, RicRic said:

Asencio done ✍is what Im seeing well this is the signing which will have every team and their fans sit up and know we are not playing second fiddle, id prefer we got williams in that position and ferran on the left side but its okay definitely not turning up my nose 

I don't think this precludes signing Nico Williams at all. Williams could play in that second striker/right sided striker or winger role. I don't think Asensio is as plausible an option on the wing as he's not so good 1v1 and I have questions about his defensive contribution which that wide midfield role is required to put in.

You could line up like this quite easily:

-------------------- Watkins ----------- Asensio --------------------

Ramsey ------- D. Luiz -----------  Kamara ------- Williams

NOTE: This is just an example, I'm not saying this should be our starting XI, or our best XI, or anything like that - it's just an example!

Whether we have the budget and so forth to achieve all that is another matter. They may have other targets in mind, such as a Luiz Henrique.

What I put in the Summer Transfer Thread last night:

If he does come, he's coming to increase the number of goals we score. That's his best attribute, his shot. Technically very very good, favours his left foot a fair bit.
For me, he's not a winger. He's a 10 or a forward. Don't expect him to take on a player one on one and win via physical ability. He is much better at progressing the ball through technical craft, but he is good with the ball at his feet.

He's very good retaining the ball and moving it around with a neat pass - got to think Emery likes the sound of this a lot.

He's had some difficulties to deal with before, be it nailing down a consistent position in the Madrid team or coming back from a really bad ACL injury. He now progresses the ball better with his vision and weight of pass than by beating a player. I have some questions about how "involved" he would get in the defensive phases of play.

As much as Villa are a project, so is Asensio. Got to believe that's what Emery sees too. A lump of clay, with some magic about it, that Emery can mold in to his system that he wants to play. Similarly, from all reports, Asensio could benefit from going to a place where he is going to be given a chance to be a main attraction rather than just another star in a team of many (which Madrid is). I think he needs that kind of devotion and focus, being taken under the wing of someone respected, to get the best out of him now.

For us, I would expect him to play the right sided forward alongside Watkins, but would typically drop deeper more regularly and wider too to link up play.

He would immediately go in to our starting line-up for sure. You add all the other recruitment analysis stuff on top like he would be on a free, all his CL experience and so on, there's not a lot to dislike here.

"People Use Statistics as a Drunk Uses a Lamppost — For Support Rather Than Illumination"

14 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

What do you think of him as a player Wes?

Technical quality is there, no doubt. Not sure he's the sort of absolute guaranteed PL performer (like Kamara was) we can afford to give a £30m contract.

Would be a very exciting signing.

If he does come, he's coming to increase the number of goals we score. That's his best attribute, his shot. Technically very very good, favours his left foot a fair bit.
For me, he's not a winger. He's a 10 or a forward. Don't expect him to take on a player one on one and win via physical ability. He is much better at progressing the ball through technical craft, but he is good with the ball at his feet.

He's very good retaining the ball and moving it around with a neat pass - got to think Emery likes the sound of this a lot.

He's had some difficulties to deal with before, be it nailing down a consistent position in the Madrid team or coming back from a really bad ACL injury. He now progresses the ball better with his vision and weight of pass than by beating a player. I have some questions about how "involved" he would get in the defensive phases of play.

As much as Villa are a project, so is Asensio. Got to believe that's what Emery sees too. A lump of clay, with some magic about it, that Emery can mold in to his system that he wants to play. Similarly, from all reports, Asensio could benefit from going to a place where he is going to be given a chance to be a main attraction rather than just another star in a team of many (which Madrid is). I think he needs that kind of devotion and focus, being taken under the wing of someone respected, to get the best out of him now.

For us, I would expect him to play the right sided forward alongside Watkins, but would typically drop deeper more regularly and wider too to link up play.

He would immediately go in to our starting line-up for sure. You add all the other recruitment analysis stuff on top like he would be on a free, all his CL experience and so on, there's not a lot to dislike here.

4 minutes ago, HeyAnty said:

What about?

Marca simply says: 
 

"Emery wants Marco Asensio at Aston Villa.

The technician has called the Spaniard to be part of the project. He is thinking about it."

They also report they've offered Ceballos a contract extension but with Bellingham coming in he knows he'll have less chance to play, so he hasn't made a decision yet.

3 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

How soon after the city game last year did we announce Kamara? I feel like it was almost the next day?

Edit: Just looked it up. It was the next day!

Remember though that La Liga and Ligue Un season doesn't finish until next weekend, so wont hear about any confirmed signings from teams in those leagues until at least the following week.

16 minutes ago, HalfTimePost said:

GET IN. Who could we play?

As for the play-offs, I'm not sure.

Thought he played well today, as did the whole team. Well done Leon.

Expect the Guendouzi talk to pick up again over the next two weeks. Looks like he played his last home game for them last night. Their last league game is away next weekend so maybe we'll hear murmurings before, but more likely after next Saturday.