Gary Thomas

Agreed. It was 100% Delph's decision to pledge his allegiance to Villa and then stab the fans in the back. In his words, “MY actions show everybody what type of guy I am.”

Fair play Stan! http://talksport.com/football/exclusive-hes-absolute-disgrace-stan-collymore-blasts-fabian-delph-following-his-switch

Grealish, Gill, Sinclair, Gardner?

Also gutted that Fabs gone but I hope he falls flat on his face. His behaviour has been nothing short of disgraceful and he should be ashamed of the way he has behaved.

Good first half.....second half absolutely dreadful....

Desperate to see us confirm a good signing after the debacle with (Judas) Delph. Hope his actions, and the likelihood of Benteke leaving, hasn't put potential targets off.

Just did the same....it's coming from all angles at the moment.....Good performance against Sporting Braga hopefully, but hot holding out much hope the ways things have gone today

So funny

Judas. Nothing more to say about him.

I can’t bring myself to believe this is true. Surely he knows he would be tagged a liar and hypocrite after what he said just a week ago – and not just by Villa fans. He doesn’t strike me as someone who would do this, but that’s just my impression; perhaps I am naive or grasping at straws. If this does turn out to be true it is another damning indictment of the modern footballer who increasingly seems to lack any integrity or principles whatsoever.

assurances of his place in the side Is it? It's on the BBC. Again. http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/33571351 Yes, it is Good detective work ....

Fabian Delph said "I'm not leaving. I'm staying at the football club and I can't wait for the start of the season and captaining this great football club." That is the most concrete evidence we have and I believe he will keep to his word.......

As Kevin Keegan once said, "I will love it"

Gabby is just one reasons we’ve struggled - there are a 100 other reasons so not trying to pin everything on him at all. He isn’t terrible and I think he will finish his career at Villa as a squad/impact player. But the fact is 4-6 goals as season from a first choice striker will likely see us relegated, regardless of what he did 6-7 years ago. He scored 12-13 goals a season when we finished 6th but to be fair to him he was playing in a much better team then.

We are being linked with so many good players, I wonder if this is the Villa PR machine at work? These links create a positive image of the club i.e. we are ambitious with money to spend and we are going for good quality players. It is clear from this forum that these links excite the fans, but I wonder if it also helps to send a positive signal to prospective targets who must also see all these links? Just a thought.

Lets face it, Gabby is one of the reasons we have struggled. In the last 60 or so PL appearances he has scored 10 goals – 6 in 2014 and 4 in 2013. That’s just not good enough not matter how you cut it. To get anywhere near mid table we will need 40+ goals. If one of our main attackers is getting 4-6 goals we are screwed. Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy, but we need better quality, especially with Christian moving. We are now going to be far more reliant on players sharing the goals and we cannot carry anyone.

If this goes through I wonder if there will be a release clause built into the contract and for how much? Just imaging the future if he has one or two good years and the media decide to move him to a BIG club. “Liverpool ready to bid £XXm to snare Jordan Amavi from Villa”

Assuming someone bids and meets the clause (which as far as I know no one has yet), we still won't have 32 million to spend. Something like 8m goes to Genk, then as Benteke hasn't requested to leave he'll get some sort of payout, plus whatever lawyers and agents cream from it. I would guess the cash we end up with is actually closer to 20 million than 32. Is genks share not 15% of the profit? , or at least what is being reported. Think it is 15% of anything over 8m - others will correct me if I am wrong Edit = 3.7m

IF we reinvested the money in 3 10-12 million type quality players you are probably right

I don't expect it to happen, but another year with us would make a lot of sense for him and us. He will be playing in a familiar team that is set-up for him; a team that is strengthening under the guidance of Captain Sherwood and Sargent Wilko. Barring injury, he will play nearly every game and is likely to score a load of goals for us, especially IF we strengthen like is being speculated (I know that might be curtailed if he stays). Then he has the Euros to showcase his talents in a strong Belgium team. After that he will be able to pretty much choose where he wants to go with our blessing and we should (fingers crossed) be in a stronger position to attract a quality striker. Now he may score a hatful of goals if he goes to Liverpool - I know he is super talented But that seems a riskier option – getting used to a new system, playing in a team that won't be set up for him, playing much less due to rotation or competition - not exactly ideal with the Euros around the corner. God forbid he has a lean spell; the knives will be out and his confidence could take a right battering. Moreover, his option to move to a top Champions League side is reduced - even if he has an amazing Euro Championship - because he will be in a longer-term contract with Liverpool.

Let's not get too excited, we've only actually bought 1 player.... Sorry sir, can't help it. 'The Future' for Villa has, for so very long, meant nervously looking at fixture lists, staring bleakly at overgrown Sunday League pitches and filling out Predictors. I'm relishing the difference. I'll make a bet with you. If I'm not smiling like a fool come September £100 to Villatalk. Bloody hell, I like your positivity and confidence – stop it you'll get everyone excited....

Our target should be 40+ goals next season in the PL. Hope we can build a 'team' that can get that without CB.

Bye. Right, lets go shopping......

Bookmakers suspend betting on transfer of Aston Villa's Christian Benteke http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-christian-benteke-liverpool-9671746 The End Is Nigh????

Ok, show me the proof. You'll see it in a week or so. If it happens