Villaphan04

I was just trying to think about this and I genuinely can't figure out anyone else.

that will be very interesting. tough test

VAR doing it's job already.

Second game back and VAR is already looking better than it did last year. Giving the refs the directive to go to the pitch side monitor

how long has he been at Arsenal? will he count as a home grown player?

even though that could possibly turn out true, we can't just compare a season where one was in one of the best teams in a weaker league vs being in one of the weaker teams in a far stronger league. All that said, if we are looking at another center back I think we should be looking for a clear upgrade on Konsa of which Axel is not.

also a sneaking suspicion I have is that we shouldn't move on from both Nyland & Kalinic. Even though both are going to be surplus, the reality is we will be bringing in a new #1. but then both of our backups suffered season ending injuries last year which led us to an emergency cover signing in Reina — and we've had bad luck with long term keeper injuries recently. I also am not particularly confident if Sinisalo in that case as the senior backup. nothing more than a suspicion but feel like it might be prudent

yeah I can't say I understand some of these. No reason for us to sell Guilbert imo, he's good enough to push Cash for a starting spot plus said he was happy here. I'd use the same reasoning for Nakamba and Engels, in that we would then have to buy players to come in for them while selling them. We don't have another Nakamba type player in the squad (if we're shifting Luiz around in midfield) and selling Engels would leave with only 3 senior center backs, of which one is very poor with his passing. Could make similar reasoning for not selling Samatta as well.

Guessing this might be the way forward to watch unless we face another PL U-21/23 side

I have a sneaking feeling that if we get off to a poor start, Dean will be under a lot of pressure. Most of the links we have are with players he's coached or tried to sign before (in the championship). I keep coming back to a fear of mine that Smith is one of, if not the least, attractive manager for potential signings in the Premier League. I still have faith in him for this season, but I think that might drastically change by the end of the transfer window

NBC will have the select games on the usual channels (e.g. NBCSN, 12:30 on NBC etc). The "non-televised" games will be on Peacock instead of NBC Gold. I believe with peacock you will be given the playback feature. Not sure if they are planning on something similar to what happened over the summer where the games were on the Peacock 'free' option

Probably unrealistic, but he would be absolutely a great signing imo.

the problem is then forcing ourselves into the ridiculously overpriced English market. And then we still don't know if the players will be able to translate from the C'ship to the PL.

He would be a very underwhelming signing for me. Is he better than Davis/Samatta, yes (but Davis brings a different type of link up to us which otherwise we don't have in the squad which I think is a massive issue). Would be like akin to when we signed Darren Bent except Bent had multiple PL seasons with 10+ goals. Wilson only has 1.

palace is the one i'm really looking at

Thought I'd bring this over to this thread. But seeing as he's a SHA fan, don't think there is going to be a link there. Also don't think he's going to be a massive upgrade on Targett either.

that would be an interesting signing

I'd also throw in a few others: Fedor Chalov Adolfo Gaich (think we were linked with him last summer, moved to CSKA Moscow this summer) Berardi (though he is more of a winger) Volland (just went to Monaco for around 11m) Weghorst Iheanacho (I'm not particularly keen on him, but would rather him over Wilson) Edouard (would probably be my #1 target) Would also echo Maxi Gomez as well

we just don't have a starting position available for him in the XI and i just don't think he is good enough for us to be spending that roughly 20m to upgrade over Hause. Also his injury/fitness record isn't going to help his cause. yep. I've watched him a few times and can definitely see the potential with him (though I wouldn't be surprised if he got a loan out for regular first team depending on how well they are doing by Jan). pretty highly rated on fifa/fm as well. Also just found this link where it says he is already going through the coaching badges. https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/hes-only-19but-leeds-united-starlet-jamie-shackleton-already-targeting-uefa-coaching-licence-244402

Was also going to say this. At £10m I would've been fine with it, but doubling it plus I'm assuming hefty wages (probably be our highest earner) makes me very concerned.

My main issue with Wilson is that he's torn both his ACL's. So I'd be pretty worried about injury history.

just curious, but has it been standard for Villa to not officially announce youth signings? I see a mixed response from team to team

I think if he's the only striker we bring in this summer we will massively struggle (and I like him as a player).

The one i've seen is pretty full of quotes saying his price should be around £40-50 mil Some I've seen