MrBlack

You answered your own question

Diaby x Bailey magic incoming... do it lads! (Assuming injury rumour mill isn't true)

So far, you seem to be right... I think Philogene comes on for Bailey if we need to make an attacking change too, but Tielemans could fit in in place of McGinn easily, without shoehorning anything.

It's not helped by the United class of 92... bleurgh. That will happen again, maybe, but with the international scouting network the way it is its pretty unlikely

If Caceido is going for 110 theyre very easily worth more than 250. Not least because we wouldn't accept less, but also because clubs would outbid anyone else if they started offering below market amounts

Hadn't seen a release fee mentioned, but did see the sell on roma get for any final sale fee. You'd think they'd want a loan first so the sale fee is lower at the end...

Got to agree with this, sorry @Delphinho123. You entertain usually, but think you went a bit early on your negativity here. Is it because he's a record signing? Does this mean you'll start liking Buendia now he's not got that label?

If he performs in those, which won't be free of pressure, then he gets opportunities in the bigger games. They're also games played our style of play so we know whether he works for us (which we dont if we sell/loan). If he doesn't, we sell with little regret (and can still include a buyback) We haven't given him the opportunity so have no idea what he's really capable of. Selling now risks us being in a cahill situation, albeit a buy back mitigates that slightly. Loaning again would be pointless.

I imagine part of their frustration is that they got him way below market value. the nature of that transfer (unproven post injury, not wanted by club, desperate to sell to any available market)....meant 20m ish was knocked off asking price. Now 6 months later he's proved his ligaments are healed (even though there are probably still question marks there), he's wanted my the club selling him, he's demonstrated his ability is still there (5 goals in 340 minutes) ... but they're not making any money on him

In pre-season friendlies?

Are you trolling or being serious? I'm never sure with you.

They don't. Expected stats aren't tracked there. So his 5 goals in 340 minutes aren't reflected.

He was previously called AgentaVillaOg wasn't he? He did post early info about Pau and Diaby... not sure if he also posted a load of rubbish he later deleted though.

Agreed. If I didn't think he had what it takes I'd be happy for us to cash in now. I do feel his knack for scoring and dual footedness makes him a unique talent that will always have a place in the PL. If we see him sold i think we can assume Emery feels the same way you do, and I'm inclined to trust his judgement on this if that be the case. I like how he phrased it as retaining control of their future...and I think for players like Ramsey and Archer who are fans of villa it is something we can claim to have.

It does feel like we get more than our fair share of long injuries to first teamers... but I've never checked the data to see if its actually the case? Between Kamara, Buendia, Carlos, Ramsey, Moreno... that's 5 in the space of about 12 months. They are (or were at the time of their injuries) first 11 names. If its significantly more then any other club in the PL it does raise some questions... the answer of which isn't necessarily that our medical department are shit. Although whatever they did to Carlos after he went down injured definitely wasn't helping the injury. Again, not necessarily their fault if Carlos thought he had a cramp or something.

Agreed they're options for him to develop. And in the sense that they are rests for Watkins, in situations where we shouldn't need to worry about the drop off in quality, that is ideal for our purposes this season and worth the trade off for the improvement we'll see in Archer. Watkins starts 35 games in the PL (potentially rested against relegation candidates/promoted teams), and just over half the cup games (first legs, early group games, latter stages) and that's a perfectly manageable load for him. Archer trains our way, plays with our team, and I guess I think his ceiling is higher than you do. I agree it does present a concern if Watkins gets injured, but for me massively less than if Martinez got injured. But by that point he may have shown enough in his opportunities to be trusted. I'd welcome an older striker to be the injury backup, but not sure theres many out there that would be reasonable value for what we need from them in that scenario. If we only get value from them through it enabling us to send Archer on loan/ sell with buy back, then it's kind of a 50:50 for me. Id probably be gambling on Watkins consistent fitness record, Diaby/Zaniolo as alternatives in emergency, and Duran/Archer potential until January.

ECL second legs where we have leads, Early ECL rounds where we're comfortable/already qualified, league Cup early stages, fa cup early stages... Anywhere we play opposition that are championship quality or below really

I think you might be right, although they had success either side of that season ... but if he can channel the confidence from that season with Diaby, it could be the key to unlocking his confidence player issue. Might only take one successful link up with Diaby where they score a worldie between them that frees up his mind. Although, if that is the case it might only take a bad touch to then undo it. I guess ee don't want fragile mindsets, but I'm sure Emery and his team have been working on it since they got here, and I don't think it's impossible they make a breakthrough with Bailey this season, and Diaby should help.

One of his best (if not the best) seasons he's had was playing alongside Diaby. If he can rediscover his form from that season, and bring some of the football he played with Diaby to villa he could yet play a big part this season. The loss of Buendia will make it more important to have creative options elsewhere and him and Diaby created all sorts of openings when they were playing together and on form. It's his last chance to make a success of his time at villa really, and he will be sold in Jan or next summer if it still hasn't clicked for him.

As if Romano is calling Emery up at 10:30pm to get an inside scoop. So inconsiderate. He'll be busy watching Newcastle's pre season highlights prepping for the weekend.

@gwi1890 another one for the TLK trio . I'm not in anyway going to gloat if that happens, but I will forever bow down to your Emery channeling insight if they don't play. I'm genuinely surprised how certain you are he won't try it. . It just seems quite logical to me.

Do we get any insurance pay out in this kind of situation? Surely being our most expensive ever signing we have some thing financially lined up to help us replace him? Anyone in the football world know how this works?

That would have been a good one for the old "what happened next" round on QoS. The moment before an iconic moment. Magic. Gerrard would be creaming himself.

If we thought he was ready now I doubt we'd have been selling him in the first place. I doubt this injury changes that... unless we find we can't sign someone that is a better option, but suspect Burnley won't wait around long for us to make that call as they need their players in for the start of the season. I think he's still going

I guess the limitation we have is that this is only going to work with the fans of the club, that genuinely want to play for us. Whilst Man City can do it with any player because they'll all be happy coming back to a team at the top of the league, we can only do it with players that will likely want to come back to us. And realistically, even a fan may change their mind once their club has already sold them. I suppose the messaging when we sell them is important. If we explain to Archer that we want him to continue developing, but can't give him the game time he needs, and a loan would see him dropping down a level which isn't what we want, I can see his fan persuasion holding strong. We say we'll buy him back in two years, and he's happy. We retain the right to not action that buy back, but the second we start doing that we are going to lose the loyalty that we depend on. For Ramsey, we have the enticement of playing alongside his brother as an added sweetener for him wanting to come back. Unless of course in the mean time we've reached the top and displaced the oil barons, and then we can do wtf we want like they do.