burchy

If it was my money (god I wish I was in the situation) I’d go all in and drop the following on Emery… ST: Openda - £30m RW: Asensio - Free LM: Goncalves £35m RM: Szboszlai £45m DM: Ugarte £45m CBL: Inacio £30m RB/CB: Geertruida £30m GK - Loan In - Free £215m outlay, offset by whatever we can get in from sales

I’d go for Goncalves, Ugarte, Asensio and someone not on your list for the fourth, Dominik Szboszlai or Arda Guler

Can we not do a buy 2 and get an Inacio free?

For the forward line I think we need… RW/SS: New, Buendia, Bailey LM: New, JJ and AJ* RM: New, McGinn, New (Youth)* * if we get European games I’m not sure on the RM starter but for LM I’d go Goncalves or Xavi Simons (possibly unrealistic). For the RW/SS I’d go with Asensio.

Good player but better value out there at the reported price. I’d rather Goncalves for the left side personally and he’d probably be cheaper to boot

If the Ugarte links are to be believed we could see a pivot of Ugarte Kamara for the big games and then perhaps a more attacking Luiz, Ugarte, Kamara three with a more flair forward line for the lesser opponents.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

From his 22/23 heat map he tends to operate on the length side of midfield, so basically where JJ plays or where Dougie drifts. He hasn’t got any goals this year and only 3 assists. Compare him to Goncalves for example, 15 goals (6 PK) and 10 assists or the ArsenaL linked Xavi Simons, 17 (2 PK) and 8. On paper I know which player we need more.

With the links to Ugarte I’d say we’ll look to bring in some competition/cover for Kamara (if he gets injured again for a lengthy period) or probably more likely as a partner for Kamara if we want to go more offensive on the wide midfielders. Luiz and McGinn aren’t prolific so I can see Emery wanted to add real quality comp to the squad in the CM and RM position also.

Just remembered Felix is a Mendes client so perhaps the stars are aligning

Isn’t it the wrong side for Ollie though as he tends to play on the left if anywhere up front, especially with him being right footed.

Could we not tempt Felix with another loan, with an option to buy, should we make CL? He’d be class in that SS role and might come now he’s seen the Chelsea grass isn’t greener.

I think the forward might be a bit of a curve ball. Was looking at some ‘out there’ options. Obviously you’ve got the freebies like Thuram and Dembele that we might be in for but others of interest include the below. Mehdi Taremi (30), 21 & 7, Habib Diallo (27), 20 & 1, Lacazette (31), 26 & 5, Tasso Douvikas (23), 18 & 4. We’ve also been linked the Openda (23, 19 & 3) and Jonathan David (23, 22 & 4) There are players out there that don’t need to cost the earth that could do a decent job for us next year (David might cost upwards of £50m mind) I think Openda would be a class signing.

I think John and Dougie are at least due some decent competition to come in and will most likely be rotated next year more than they have this year. I have to admit I thought the RM slot was a dead sort for a new player but with McGinn’s form the second half of the season I’d be happy going into next season with him being the starter and someone like Arda Guler or Habib Diarra being the backup squad option. Don’t get me wrong I’d love us to go big but I’m not sure it’s as much a priority as is was a while back.

God I loved his beard

where’s that no, no, hell no gif

I hate that this is the reality of the modern game. I love Villa and football in general but also hate it at the same time. It’s like all the media clamour for Man City and their treble, they’ve only got there due to cheating. We should all be up in arms about it but nothing’s ever mentioned, really grinds my gears! Anyway back on topic, hoping for anything other than a defeat to keep the European dream alive. It’ll be tough but I think we can cause them issues.

I could see both our starting fullbacks from last year being in jeopardy of being sold given Moreno’s purchase and the adaptation of the RB role. We could therefore be in a position, perhaps not this Summer window, but Jan or next summer, cashing in on Cash and bringing in another, perhaps younger, RB option.

I think the funniest part is Newcastle pay Targett £100k a week! They’re in a worse situation than we are with Digne (chuckles under his breath)

Also, can we look at Arda Guler please before Newcastle get him.

I think Emery will be a big pull for players as ultimately he makes players better and that won’t go unnoticed by some. Obviously some players will be driven by just money but others will see the whole package, a club on the up, awesome coach and a family feel and atmosphere, great facilities and also the cash to go with it all as well. We’re an attractive proposition for anyone outside the elite players.

And Antonio Silva, Gonçalo Ramos, Otavio

I might be being brutal there as Digne, Dendonker and Bailey are all senior members of the squad. I’d certainly listen to offers for all of them. I’d be inclined to keep some of the youngsters about for Europe as well so perhaps not send A. Ramsey, Tim and Philogene on loan initially.

I’m hoping the links to players like Kokcu and Ugarte point to us backing Emery and his comments about having 2 quality players for each position. The top teams are able to bring in like for like quality wise and I think that’s where he wants to get us. If, hypothetically, we had a midfield 2 that was picked from Luiz/Kokcu and Kamara/Ugarte we’d have one of the best central midfields in the league, that could be mixed up depending on the opposition. More attacking Luiz & Kokcu. More defensive Ugarte & Kamara. Obviously we’d have to keep everyone happy but with more games we would be able to do that and like other posters have said LWB and CM is the area we’ll be swapping out regularly as that’s where most of our graft takes place.

Sorry bud, I did the same, looked as his stats and suggested him as an option for the LM role a while back. He can basically play anywhere along the front line, centrally as a No10 or as you’ve suggested in the Buendia role just behind Watkins. He’s a grafter as well and gets stuck in.