VillaChris

11 minutes ago, StewieGriffin said:

Fair.

Im not suggesting he doesn't love Villa or doesn't want to stay (as in "I hate it, can't wait to leave") - maybe he fancies a different challenge, culture, fresh start. The point I was trying to make is that maybe this isn't entirely "Aston Villa want to sell Douglas Luiz because of FFP/Monch and Emery are insane" and is maybe a little bit of "Villa will sell him if he's giving vibes that he might walk away for nothing in 2 years"

That's the thing. We see likes of Emi, Bailey, Ollie, Konsa all sign contract extensions with two or more years left on their present deals so would be strange if we haven't already approached Doug and his agency and got their thoughts.

Last time we seemed to gamble a bit letting things run down to final six months. I remember Purslow at the time saying he was very confident and seemingly things had been agreed for months but let's be honest we got a bit lucky. Slippy ridiculously benching him and then Arsenal coming in very late in August 2022 window, most players would've left in that situation.

We'd clearly tipped him off that Gerrard would be gone and we'd be getting in an Emery type as coach and he decided it would be more logical to stay and continue his development and it's been an excellent decision.

So this time he could've informed the club he's thinking of moving on as his cycle is complete but he'll stay a few more months to give us time to source replacements which we seem to be doing with the links to Soler and Baena.

11 minutes ago, Hornso said:

I hear we've blocked Digne & Diaby.

I'd have let Digne go tbh. At the stage of his career where he won't really be getting anymore senior call ups due to his age and the younger options they have no matter how well he plays for us or elsewhere. Great way to bring down his international career. Surely Moreno will be fit by August?!

Diaby born in Paris so he'll probably be disappointed aswell but needs to hit the ground running next season so better he stays and then he'll be back in the full squad.

8 hours ago, sne said:

Oliseh and Mateta both in the French Olympic squad. Tournament ends a week before the PL starts.

Mateta in as overaged player is interesting. Guess this is a clever way of France maybe seeing if he could be a sort of Giroud replacement in the squad. If he does well then try him out in World cup qualifiers. If not he's had the honour of playing for his nation in home Olympics which will be very special indeed.

Some countries tend to do that for players who've been overlooked for the normal tournaments. In 2016 Germany had Sven Bender as overaged and he only had 7 main caps for Germany. Nils Petersen aswell who surprisingly only then received two caps for Germany in 2018 despite playing well for Freiburg in last decade.

2021 Max Arnold was called up as overaged player. Surprisingly only 3 caps despite being a consistent Bundesliga midfielder for a decade. Max Kruse also got called up.

It's a shame U.K are so petrified that FIFA would insist the home nations should merge into one so they just refuse to send teams (would be eligible winning the under 21 tournament last year). Could've seen some cool call ups for under the radar players like Solanke perhaps.

2 hours ago, KAZZAM said:

Bowen been really poor tbh looks well outta sync with everyone. 

Pretty clear he'll be cut. Saka and Palmer miles ahead as right sided options and bit of a luxury to take three in that position with lack of depth in other areas.

Bowen's an excellent domestic player in the cut and thrust prem but does feel he's one of those that can't quite adapt to international football. 

Pretty much fell asleep during that. Did Toney come on? It would be bizarre to me if he makes the squad barely having played any minutes in the last three months.

People go on about his penalty taking but England already have 5-6 pretty secure penalty takers in the squad so I think it's less of an issue than previous tournaments. And you'd likely have to sub one off for him to come on.

Grealish getting a token 10 minutes at the end even with half the squad missing. I genuinely could see him getting cut, would much rather see Eze in the squad as he deserves it for the way he's been playing lately.

One more thing...it was a lovely finish but TAA in midfield seems to be one of those things the pundits annually hype up and yet he's always incredibly average whenever he plays there. There's a reason why Klopp never attempted it.

6 minutes ago, duke313 said:

Did you see the way he celebrated Duran’s equaliser against Liverpool? Nothing indifferent about it.

I think that was more being invested into getting us into the CL. Playing in that for us and I get the feeling he might think his "journey" with us has been completed. 

See if he starts in the Copa America for Brazil. If he doesn't then he still hasn't got a regular place so that will be important for him with the World cup two years out.

20 minutes ago, nepal_villan said:

Those valuations don't make sense. Too low for Douglas Luiz and far too high for McKennie (with 1 year left)

Juventus going to Juventus.

This is the deal I was on about. Both valuations massively inflated to help both clubs with FFP and also was the first few months of Covid:

Barcelona confirm £75m Arthur and £59m Miralem Pjanic deals with Juventus | Football News | Sky Sports

I bet they're trying to pull the same trick with us especially as they do have some younger players in their squad who would be of interest to us so might aswell just put McKennie in aswell and hope we haven't noticed they've added an extra nought valuing him at 30m!

1 hour ago, Tomaszk said:

Now I do agree with this.

I think to not be forced into it next year though, we'll have to qualify for the Champions League again.

That will be very very very difficult.

So I wouldn't put it past us trying to control it ourselves and move players at peak value, than off the back of an average season.

We'll see.

Yes next summer if we drop to 6th-7th it is inevitable at least one big player will leave. I think Ramsey is nailed on to leave next summer personally if Rogers continues to make excellent impact and Buendia returns and contributes.

Perhaps with all this speculation Doug has just informed the club he won't sign a new deal so he's given us a decent period to start sourcing replacements. Wouldn't have an issue considering he could've easily gone on strike when Arsenal came in but chose to stay in the end.

30 minutes ago, WallisFrizz said:

More of the same. Speculating money plus McKennie but our valuation is different to theirs. I’m hoping this is a load of old rubbish. 

I really can't believe Juventus will get anywhere near the valuation we have for him. It would be completely different if any of Real Madrid, PSG or Arsenal were in as you know those clubs have endless money to spend.

When did Juventus last spend 50m + on a midfielder? They signed Pogba for free, Rabiot also came on a free transfer and going way back they signed Pjanic for 25m in 2016 when he was one of the best CMs in Serie A.

They are completely mugging us off if they think we'd just willingly accept McKennie being valued at 30m. They signed him for 15m and while he's done o.k for them he wouldn't even be worth 5m based on his Leeds spell.

To me this stinks a bit of Juventus seeing us making the CL and thinking we'll willingly help them with FFP issues. They pulled this trick a few years ago when they convinced Barca to swop Pjanic and Artur which was completely pointless and both players flopped after moving. Perhaps they've got Monchi onside but I'd really prefer not to deal with them if they're offering derisory deals for Doug.

2 hours ago, Pongo Waring said:

Would take him at Villa. Makes sense 

 

 

Must be well into his 30s now. I remember him at Man. City in 2011?

Dzeko on the bench for Bosnia tonight and he's 38.

1 hour ago, _AA_786 said:

Juve are still in a bit of a mess financially (still owe Ronaldo €10-20m) and have been scrambling to rebalance the squad from some of the expensive older players to younger and more Italian players. They also don't have a squad that suits Motta from where they have depth so can absolutely see someone like a Chiesa being sold (as would bring in decent funds). Whilst i like him, I'm not sure he would suit the PL  -  sorry @Jas10!

 

Chiesa would be better for our style than Zaniolo, much more direct so would make the impact Bailey has this season I'm fairly sure.

My only worry is he was getting to elite standard, did his ACL and might just now be a good player with not much room for improvement as he hits mid 20s.

15 hours ago, thabucks said:

No way is AWB an upgrade on Cash and shouldn’t be in any conversation with us. 

He's basically Konsa though so I assume we want to keep Ez more centrally next year rather than shifting him out to RB every third match.

Depends what people want from the next RB I think. We probably need to work out what we're going to get from our LB in the long run first I think with Digne's future uncertain.

10 hours ago, TheStagMan said:

Yeah, so did Gabby! Standards weren't that high back then

Gabby between 2006-10 hit double figures every season for us and was a key part of a top 6 side. Redmond never got close to those heights. I actually thought he got capped when he was at Norwich given that was when England were giving loads of caps to young players.

All I can remember from him at Southampton was Guardiola going up to him after the final whistle of a game and telling him to believe in himself more.

6 hours ago, Genie said:

I guess LG is talking about the VIP area he would have been invited to. It would be the same at Villa or any other ground, you can’t be shouting and being a dick in there. The rest of the stadium will be absolutely fine for making lots of noise in and having a few drinks.

His Brother goes in with the away fans rather than a box at those grounds so could be that, away fans not as vocal as more.

Man. City is just a tourist destination now. We'll get there if we're making CL regularly, sign some emerging players from newer football markets and charge ridiculously high prices (which is happening).

In fairness I don't think they'd claim the new ground even before the takeover was anything like Maine Road which could be a bearpit on occasions. Hardly ever used to sell out for a start.

Kevin Campbell seriously unwell in hospital.

Played for Forest and Arsenal but his most successful spell was with Everton in late 90s/early 2000s.

Pretty good striker in his day.

Wish him all the best but doesn't sound great from rumours online.

34 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

The thing that kills me is that as much as I'd love to dislike him, Bellingham seems like a really nice, grounded bloke, even in his interview after winning the CL, it's all about his parents and the sacrifices they made for him. He's a bluenose, but I bloody like him, he's a decent lad.

Grealish, on the other hand, although he does a bit of the old charity, seems like an absolute word removed. 

Yep can't dislike him at all.

He could've moved to Man. United when he was 17 which 99% of young players would've done and then moaned three years later with all their managerial changes. Dortmund was a fantastic stepping stone for him towards Real Madrid in terms of playing infront of big crowds/team with expectations to challenge for trophies.

So great advice and maturity and what he's achieved at Madrid is ridiculous considering the issues even top level British players have settling in abroad. He hasn't just become a good player there, he's effectively the leader with Vinicus Jr in final third now.

1 hour ago, VillaAlex said:

To be fair it's easier to bring players through in the Championship, that's our own fault as I feel we never used the loan system well but even Grealish only truly excelled once we were playing there. (Ignoring when he first burst on the scene as many young players do so and are found out). 

Annoying we messed up O'Hare's development the way we did. If we'd given him good loans and starts here and there it's not impossible he might still have been in our squad in 2021 and developed enough to be Grealish internal replacement. Or had him in 20/21 instead of signing Barkley.

1 hour ago, Zatman said:

Mm they have probably had a better academy than us in last 10-15 years. Bellingham, Gray, Redmond, Butland all international and had good careers

Redmond actually played for England...wow.

He flattered to deceive in prem for Southampton and Norwich, so did Gray although he scored the odd screamer for Everton. Bannan got Scotland caps while he was here and so did Weimann with Austria and both pretty decent championship players over last decade.

17 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

Can you imagine us congratulating grealish for winning premier league or champions league with city.

I would be utterly embarrassed 

I swear bellingham only played two seasons in their first team as well? Its absolutely humiliating the way they going on like he did 10 years service ans did so much for them.

Yeah it's very bizarre.

Demari Gray was also someone who came through their youth set up and then was in their first team for a 18 months before he moved to Leicester in Jan 2016 and won the premier league.

That's a far bigger achievement than Bellingham going to Real Madrid already on 14 Euro cups and winning a 15th.

Just let them celebrate their "wins" which really have nothing to do with them while they ignore their losses that have put them in league one.

Last 12 months they have quickly gone into denial mode with what we're achieving under Emery and the stuff Wagner is spouting so just let them continue believing it.

49 minutes ago, StewieGriffin said:

You would think Monchi in particular would know all the concerns of selling a player to Barcelona.

Yeah Barca take the pee so much with comings and goings. Ultimately their calling card is location and general size of club so they'll always have endless players wanting to join them regardless of their chaotic finances. Luiz also played for Girona for a season before joining us.

I guess the only unknown was we quickly concluded the Lenglet deal after Mings injury so there might have been a secret agreement for them to get first dibs on a Luiz if that player becomes available.

21 hours ago, Adam2003 said:

Is this bit a joke? They’d both be in and starting this summer if they were fit. 

Anyway - that’s an aside as I wasn’t the one who said he’s only in the squad because he plays for Chelsea - in fact I totally disagree with that, he’s in because there are basically no other credible options. In central midfield he’s hoping to get in ahead of maybe Lewis Cook and Adam Wharton (and Jordan Henderson and Kalvin Phillips who have been binned off) - so I think if he was that good he’d definitely have established himself more. He’s currently probably behind Kobbie Mainoo in the pecking order whose whole career has been six OK months. England are still a good team but the CM options are pretty pathetic at the moment unfortunately - that and left back is what will cost us this summer (well, and Southgate).

None of this relevant really as to whether he would be a good signing or not, but I don’t think we should delude ourselves about his level or the level needed to play CM for England right now! They were comfortably outclassed by our own Youri Tielemans in the last break. 

No they wouldn't. Shaw is first choice for England at LB by a long way. Chilwell was hopeless in the March games so credit to Southgate for seeing that and cutting him out.

1 minute ago, RicRic said:

Reece james if fit is probably the best RB in the country but no thanks if hes missing season after season 

He as close to anyone as the new Kyle Walker but constant injuries when he's coming up to mid 20s and his physique are big warning signs. Pretty similar to Shaw on the other side.

With the DM I think this will be a season loan so probably a case of waiting until the end of the window and seeing who becomes available.

The season starts a week later than normal so think we only actually play two games before the deadline so can see that signing being August 31st job.

40 minutes ago, RicRic said:

Joao Felix & Ferran torres are options worth looking at being as barca need the cash.

Both think playing for us is beneath them I bet.

1 hour ago, DJBOB said:

I still cringe at the McKennie link but definitely fits the Unai idea of filling in any of the midfield positions, center or wide, depending on our set up. 

He was complete rubbish at Leeds.

Rabiot would be a much better fit for how we play but late 20s and high wages makes that sort of deal difficult.

Feels a bit like Juventus need a new buddy to help them out with FFP so given we're in the CL they're fluttering their eyelashes at us now.

Not sure what they're smoking if they think we'll be happy to give them Luiz for McKennie + Soule. There's a 40m difference there for a start.