Pez1974

On 28/06/2023 at 10:45, jacketspuds said:

SSN reporting that Luton can't match Nakamba's wages so a loan is more likely.

Would be just our luck.

If Luton can't afford Nakamba, with a year left on his contract from a willing seller - they are screwed.

Maybe they'll just come up, get relegated with 4 points, and pocket a fortune for long term investment. Can't blame them. 

3 minutes ago, PieFacE said:

Seems fans of other teams seem surprised he's coming to us which is hopefully a good sign. 

Since Emery took over - quite a lot of people, including a lot of our own fans - seemed surprised that we've got quite a lot of good players already.

Now people seem surprised that we have wealthy and ambitious owners, and an outstanding manager, who people in England seem to think isn't.

There are going to be a lot of very surprised people (I hope) over the next year or 2, with how far this club can go. 

Newcastle will do well in the Champions League, but will need to play their big players. We will do well on the Conference League, and won't have to. On that basis - we could finish above them next season. 

Excellent.

And "way less" than release clause.

We are getting rather good at running a football club. Which is nice. 

1 hour ago, Keyblade said:

Good point. But he's already on the books, a year into his contract. Could factor into FFP, though I'm not sure. Plus, I don't really see too many players under £17m being as good as him, that's chump change nowadays. I think Emery can get enough of a tune out of him that he washes whatever 4th place Slovakian side we come up against in the early rounds 

Stevenage say hi.

In a team including Olsen, Bednarek, Chamber and Augustinssen (and Sanson and Dendoncker), - he still got the joint lowest player rating on the day. 

If he's on the rumoured £125k a week - £6.5m a year - then I think him going would be great.
He's little more than a name now - injury prone, and too anonymous in most games. 
Unai is a magician - not a miracle worker. I don't doubt that he would still have moments of magic over the next couple of seasons - but not enough for that outlay.

If we can mug them of £10m for the privilege, then thank you very much. 

Great signing for me.

The 'free transfer' will means he's on higher salaries, but it's still going to be a relative bargain over his contract. The big losers here are Leicester. But all clubs have been there.
Yes his salary will be higher - but we've lost Steer, Guilbert, Young, and Ings from last season - with (hopefully) Nakamba, Sanson, Traore, Sanson, Davis, Wesley and Hause to go. There's £20m+ a year there; for very little contribution. We have room, especially with the increased income. 
And as others have said - this leaves the transfer budget for other positions.

A few comments about his fitness - I doubt he'd have passed a medical if there is an underlying issue. Plus - as others have said - he's played a lot of games for a 26 year old.
But he's had a year off now (), and the joy our what Unai is building is that he won't be needed for 45 games a season - and I suspect he will be happy to be rotated. Which is exactly what we need given the talent we already have in midfield.

3 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

I wonder what would be more beneficial to Villa, using the money to buy a few “upgrades” or using the money to bulk the team’s depth 

I'd prioritise our best 11 - and by default any established starter today becomes squad, therefore boosting that too.

But we need to get the right deals in overall. January it seems Unai decided to keep money back for the summer, bringing Traore back. That looks very smart now. Less so it Ollie had broken his leg the day after we'd sold Ings.

14 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

He's 6ft 3.

Depending on where you get your info, that's 3 inches taller than Konsa and Carlos. I think he looks pretty decent in the air? Could be wrong. 

Would be a good move for us. Not sure if we can keep all 4 centre halves happy though, even with the amount of games we have. Might we look to move one on?

I'm 6ft 4. But can still only jump to a height of 6ft 5 (on a good day) 

Tielemans? I dunno. Seen him good; seen him bad. In Unai I trust.

But some of the comments about upgrading the bench or the first team - jeez. Can't we do both?

We could play 50% more games this season - and have already lost Young from our squad, which didn't always have the full 9 subs; and often had 2 GKs. Even with the returning U23s, we need upgrades on Countinho, Traore, etc. 

If we are managing our budget with this guy - I have no problem. 

Sad he's leaving.
A bit surprised - but at his age, and wages (£50k a week apparently, this year), it's hardly earth shattering.

My main surprise is that he seemed very popular, and brought leadership, and top class mentality (including the shit housery) that we seem to largely lack otherwise.
I trust Emery to replace that.

And my daughter is gutted as her first ever kick about (at a very young age) was with Ash on the nursery playground, about 12 years ago. 

Good luck to a good man, and thank you. 

I don't dispute we need a RB - but what has happened to Kessler Hayden?

Wasn't he given a 6 or 7 year contract a couple of years ago, and the loans were meant to be the thing that made him - and I thought he did well.
Only 20 and looked the bits going forward.

Very few clubs could afford his transfer fee

Its likely that very few clubs would be a desirable destination for him - he is adored here, is very happy and we're clearly on the up - would he swap that for Chelsea? 

We've got the lowest European competition, but its a chance at silverware - and a genius manager.

And he is living his dream here - Copa America, World Cup. 

A crazy offer might mean he goes, but hugely unlikely in my opinion.

Martinez. 

The guy is bonkers.

11 hours ago, RicRic said:

Ramsey wont be a starter imo , mcginn will be , so just behind ollie on both sides should be new signings going straight in as bailey hasn’t justified starting, yes ramsey has done ok and got a few goals but we can definitely upgrade heavy on him, great option off the bench and start a few games for sure.

Ramsey is 22 in a few days. He is improving every season. Who knows what a break, perhaps an England call up, and a pre-season with a genius will do for him. 

He could come back in August having stepped up again. His stats, at least make him a huge contender for a starting position .

4 minutes ago, Steero113 said:

Not that it completely sways the argument, but you've conveniently missed out our other nailed on midfielder who has 6 goals and 5 assists in the PL this season (and should have at the very least 4 more). 

I agree that we need to step up on goals from other areas, the most glaring of which is the number 10/SS role which should be a bare minimum of 12 goals in order for us to be successful. 

I see JJ as being the left forward in the team in a 433. Agreed in a 442 (or variations) he counts, but that begs the question why the stats from elsewhere aren't close to similar.

I think that we agree that as amazing as the last few months have been - to take a proper next steps the squad which seems to defend brilliantly as a group need to start contributing similarly at the other end. 

23 minutes ago, Steero113 said:

Leeds and Everton would be the dream. 

Yep - Deano going to Leicester changed that for me. Didn't really care who before. 

1 hour ago, CVByrne said:

I do have a slight worry about our wage bill 4 top signings will add £25m to our annual wage bill. I think in the coming period over next 3 years profit on player trading will be very important to add additional income. While we grow our additional income streams 

Yep, but I think the context here is huge. 

We've shifted Ings - huge earner. £6m a year if Spotrac are to be believed. Probably why we took a risk on selling our only reserve striker. 
Add the difference in prize money for finishing 7th rather than 14th - £15m additional a year.

There's some overpaid stuff in the squad - Olsen (£4m!); Digne (£8.5m - good player but can't pay that for a back up LB); Countinho (£6.5m); Dendoncker (£4.5m) - add Traore (£4m), Nakamba (£1.5m), Sanson (£2.5m); Davis (£2m); Wesley (£1.8m) - there's a lot of scope to trim the wage bill, perhaps a few will go to promoted sides, Saudi, or through contracts being up. Going to be hard to shift them all.
All the salaries are from Spotrac - but seem in line with reports. The cost of doing bad business is huge - get that right we're flying., which is what Brighton and Brentford seem to do.

Europe makes the difference too. 
Even the conference league is €3 for taking part, plus €0.5m per win - and up to €5m for winning. Do well and it's €10m+, plus the TV rights and money we make from games - you could cover your £25m here alone with a good run.
Europa league is a step up again - could be £40m all told with a run to the latter stages. 

15 hours ago, IrishVilla10 said:

 

This has to be garbage. Barca desperately need to shift players - why would they agree a blanket ban, especially given their statement that they cannot compete with us on finances. 
Bit like us wanting to get rid of Matt Targett, but refusing to do business with Newcastle!

34 minutes ago, Bazmonkey said:

I take it with a pinch of salt ..but I've heard from a source...who is reliable....

We are back in for Ward Prowse.

Cant see it myself...JWP has got west ham all.over it if Rice leaves 

A bit better at set pieces that Dougie.A lot worse at everything else.
Don't think we'd spend the money it would take to make the team no better.

As others have said - Newcastle. But WHam is a good call too in those circumstances. 

All I need for this summers transfer window is Villa Report, and alcohol. 

No idea what's gonna happen. There's going to be some disappointments. But it's going to be fun. And - the adults seem to be in charge now!

1 hour ago, MrBlack said:

Also worth noting that as a lawyer, with a masters in financial accounting, he probably knew the consequences of whatever deals he was making at Barca. Its likely he even told the powers that be that the sale of their future revenues will impact their stability in the future.

The crazy owners then probably said, well worry about that in 3 years time and negotiate more income from La Liga, don't worry about it  just get these players in. 

He's now leaving because they can't afford to match the salary we're offering him, and he can see the shitstorm heading Barca's way in a few years time and wants no part in it.

I'm not inclined to believe he was ignorant of the issues that the deals will cause Barca, or that he made them completely of his own volition without warning the owners of the long term financial/ legal impacts.

Final thoughts on this.... he's a huge statement of intent. Even if we ignore the hypothetical arguments I make above, this is a sign of how far our owners have taken us already, and how far they want to take us. 

Maybe the owners is a bigger factor than we're recognising - perhaps the single biggest of all, by quite a distance. 

The ownership in Spain looks mad - worse than here. Almost like the President is elected based on who can promise the most believable bull shit imaginable. 
Then look at ours. Not steeped in controversy. Not scum bags. Just good people doing a great job and keeping their word.

Maybe Nassef just spoke to him and told him the truth about their plans. When you are surrounded with bull shit, the truth can have a quite an effect.

5 minutes ago, Zatman said:

He paid 45 million for a 33 year old Lewandowski and gave a 4 year deal on 10 million a year which increases per season up to 16 million in season 3

Kessie is on 250k a week 5 year contract

Not sure his negotiating skills on these should be praised

Remember - Kessie was a free transfer. His transfer value was what, €50m, when he left AC Milan? That 250k a week is £65m over 5 years, when he was a freebie. Sounds OK in that context, if your figures are right.

I don't think a DoF at Barca is judged on his ability to sign top players - I could do that; its Barcelona. I think its much more in the nuance about getting the right players across the squad, at the right prices, at the right time.