VillaFaninLondon

Yeah, I'm not sure on this one either. A few seasons ago (maybe 15/16 season) he was being touted for England, but since then he hasn't done an awful lot. The good thing is he is still young and hopefully Smith can bring him on a level like he did with Mings, but the price is high. The fact that he is slow in an area where you should be quick is also a concern, but technically he's decent. I'm praying that this turns out to be a masterstroke and he does really well for us. Personally I'd have gone back in for Amavi who I think could blossom in our current system and with our current management. Or tried for Tierney even if it was unlikely. Both Liverpool and Arsenal were looking at Targett (probably more likely as second choice left back) so there is clearly something there. I was sceptical when Mings came to us in January but that turned out to be great business, so let's hope this one does too.

They are top Championship players for sure. Add Bowen and Benrahma to the list too. I'd absolutely take them if we were still in the Champ. Are they gonna struggle in the Prem? I don't know, but many players who've shone in the Champ have struggled in the Prem, Lolley included when at Huddersfield. Unless they're 18,19,20 and far too good for the league (think Alli, Sessegnon, Sigurdsson), you never know if they can step up and more often than not they don't. Even Sessegnon struggled at a poor Fulham team but I've no doubt he'll play at a top level in future. Have a feeling Benrahma could be a good move but once again Brentford want silly money for him. Both signings from foreign leagues and the Champ are risks, but we seem to be being asked to pay silly prices for Champ players. That's why we must cast the net wider. El Ghazi was an exceptional find and that's the sort of talent we should be looking to find in Europe for the positions we need to fill.

It's a shame Trossard went to Brighton, as I feel we're a much bigger pull than them. He would have been a good signing for us.

I agree and feel that if we are 'planning to do a Wolves' next season these types of players are not the answer. Webster is also extremely expensive for someone who has had one decent season in the Championship, much like Phillips. The only player we've been linked with from the Championship so far that has filled me with confidence is Butland. Other than that I'd rather we continue scouting the Dutch, Belgian and French leagues and try to sign more Wesleys.

If our owners are as ambitious as they say, and want to make us a European-chasing team again, we'll have to fork out those ridiculous sums soon enough.

I've gone for a very respectable 12th but if the season were to start now I think we would really struggle tbh, so we really need to be signing some quality over the next 6-8 weeks. Some of the players we've been linked with have impressed me - Gomez, Butland, Benrahma - and others have been very meh - Phillips, Targett, and most recently Webster. If we get more of the impressive players in who we've been linked with, we may even do better than 12th, but it really depends on who we sign and if signings like Wesley hit the ground running. I don't think finishing 17th is particularly good - yes, we've stayed up, but it will look like another Huddersfield situation and that is not the club I want Villa to be emulating. It will also make it harder to attract the bigger names we need for our second season in the top flight as they will associate us with a struggling club. I'd like to think we can make a fist of it and even win a couple of games against the top six and certainly win a lot of games against the struggling teams. So if we finish higher end of the bottom half (e.g. 11th-14th) I'll be very content. If we finish top 10 it will have been an amazing season.

Corden the silly tw@t calling us obscure, especially when he supports West Ham ffs! Obscure would be for a team like Luton or Peterborough, not the founder members of the PL who until three seasons ago were a PL ever-present. A few years of being poor doesn’t make us a small club Corden you idiot! Hanks support is very much welcome though. UTV

I obviously can't say for sure as I've only seen a few clips of the lad. He was very highly rated in France (think he was linked with Arsenal at one stage) and there was a lot of hype when he was signed. So I'd imagine Guilbert would be coming into the squad next season to be our starting RB. Fingers crossed he makes the step up seamlessly and does really well for us. Elmo, as much as he was great for us back end of last season, is getting on and would probably get roasted in the Prem against better wingers, so I'd be uneasy if he ended up being our first choice RB.

Guilbert is our best RB I'd say and McGinn and Grealish are both better than Hourihane at CM. Everywhere else is probably about right.

I'd love for this club to win a trophy, of course. But if it was a choice between say winning a domestic trophy and embarrassing ourselves in the league, or not winning a trophy and competing with the best sides in the league and then getting a chance to play Real, Barcelona, Bayern and bring them to Villa Park, then I'd definitely choose the latter. Particularly as we now have owners who would invest considerably if we ever got to that level.

Nah, Champions League every time. If we made CL we could attract top players to the club and would be pitting ourselves against the best. Anyone can win the League Cup or FA Cup as sides like Wigan and Birmingham have shown.

Yeah, I think Phillips is decent but I'm not convinced this is the best signing we could make in this position. Good steely midfielder but unproven at the top level and fairly limited in his overall game. He should be an option, but we should also have other players on our radar. Think we should be casting the net wider and looking to find a young Marco Verratti/Xabi Alonso type who tackle as well as play. The under-21 championship might uncover a few gems. Tonali for Italy could be worth keeping an eye on - huge talent.

I think £15mil is fine but any more than that I agree is too much. Mings was magnificent for us last season and has a lot of great qualities - strong, good on the ball, composed, decent range of passing. He's also left-footed which is an added bonus as it gives us balance. The fact that the fans love him and he knows the club and the set-up already really helps us as well, because we're going to have to integrate a lot of new players as it is. But he hasn't proven anything in the Prem yet. And if Bournemouth keep taking the piss we have to move on to ensure we're not left empty-handed come the start of the season.

You have a point, but equally you could say that Etheridge has only had one good season for a poor Cardiff team. You say his kicking is Guzan level, but Cardiff were very direct and I wouldn't be confident that Etheridge can play out from the back with his feet at all. Stoke were a complete shambles when they went down and for one or two seasons before that, it's harsh to judge Butland on that. Last season he was by far and away their best player and easily won their player of the season and won them many points for exceptional saves he made in games. There is of course some element of risk in this, but if the club feel that Butland would be better for a few million more then I'd back them. I think if we get the Butland deal right and integrate him well into the team he would be more of a long-term bet; whereas Etheridge I feel could be good for one or two seasons as we're trying to keep ourselves in the league but will inevitably need to be upgraded to better when our ambitions become loftier. That's why I think Butland is the sounder investment.

Butland is much more proven than Etheridge and younger.

Theo Hernandez and Martin Odegaard would really strengthen us, even if it seems overly ambitious we should at least try. We need a RW and LB and they are two massive prospects who Real won't use and are already capable of playing at a high level. Imagine Odegaard, El Ghazi, Grealish, McGinn and Wesley all linking up together. Personally, I'd look at a loan to buy option for them. A bit like Wolves did with Jimenez and Jonny last season (and Jota the season before), we loan them for a season to see if they adapt and take to the PL, if so we pay Real £30-40mil for both of them at the end of the season. Win-win for both clubs.

A bit out the blue this signing but interesting - not sure the last time we signed a Brazilian, if ever. A reasonable amount of money but fingers crossed he comes here and smashes the Premier League. Exciting signing.

Looks like a squad that would easily win the Championship, but touch and go whether it would stay up. I reckon it could finish anywhere between 11-20 based on how well the players gel and if the Championship players step up. Strongest 11 would be: .......................Butland........................ Guilbert.....Cahill.....Mings.....Targett .......................Phillips......................... ............McGinn........Grealish............. Benrahma.............................El Ghazi ........................Maupay....................... I'd be fairly confident with Butland and Benrahma making an impact. Cahill's age is a slight concern but he seems a lot more professional than a Lescott for instance and would probably help steady the ship. Targett wouldn't be my choice at left back and I personally think we can do much better (still think Tierney at Celtic would come). The unknowns for me are Guilbert, Phillips and Maupay - they could absolutely shine for us and get international recognition, or they could flop. But at least they're all young with promise. I do think the striker position is so, so important so would be keener on spending a bit more on Gomez than signing Maupay, and I also think we should cast the net a bit wider for DM and LB.

Butland is a bit younger and does have a higher ceiling - though Etheridge was impressive last season. Cardiff rejected a £10mil bid recently from us so would be £15mil minimum I imagine. I would prefer Butland even if slightly more expensive as he could be our no.1 for the next 10 years and has significant resale value. Can't say for sure who we'll end up with though.

Phillips did look decent when we played them and is young, should be on the radar. Definitely wouldn't go to £20mil though as £14mil is about right. Agree Hernandez is quality but is too old now. Pontus Janssen however is a player who I think could step up to the Prem and should be on our radar as the right-sided CB we need.

We need to spend, it's that simple. Football prices have gone up massively in the last few years and unfortunately to get the quality needed to compete in the Prem costs money. That's not to say we should be reckless, but we do need to invest rather heavily. There are players who will come cheaper with the right scouting (e.g. Guilbert may turn out to be a gem) and over the years we've seen players like Alli, Kante and Robertson sold for less than £10mil and become bargains. But this is generally the exception to the norm and given how sides like City have overinflated prices we will have to spend a fair bit to get proven PL players now. I think we can probably be a bit more frugal in certain areas (LB, RW), but a striker, defensive midfielder, goalkeeper and centre back are areas which will make or break our season I feel and because they're in core areas will require some heavy investment. Personally, if we say spent £20mil on Butland, £15mil on Mings, £10mil on Tomori, another CB (Veltman?), £20mil on a defensive midfielder (Gelson Fernandes from Benfica?), £40mil on Gomez that's £105mil. We could then either fill the other positions with loans (e.g. Wilson from Liverpool, Mount from Chelsea)) or loan to buys, or look for cheap bargains on unproven youngsters with high potential overseas. I'm not saying we're going to get all those players listed, or that they're all realistic, but some of them are from the Championship, some of them are top-level players, they're all young or youngish, and they all have resale value. They also are of the right quality that players like Grealish deserve to be playing alongside and should help us stay up. The team and squad currently has a lot of holes, there are weak teams in the Prem but right now we are definitely among the weakest, we worked so hard to get where we are and I think to fill those holes we need to invest a certain chunk of money just to stay up and build from there. It's not ideal but it's what is necessary imo.

Jordan Ayew was a very skilful player and could be good too, I'd probably take him as a bench option now. That squad also contained Veretout and Amavi (the latter was injured for most of it), but we never got to see them develop into good players because the team was so disjointed. But yeah the rest were awful - and Grealish at that time was far too immature and unprofessional compared to what he is now. So out of all of them only Gueye performed anywhere near to an acceptable level and people didn't really notice it because everyone else was so bad. I remember when we brought Richards in thinking what a signing on a free, how wrong I was there. His career was over about three years before that.

I think the comparisons to Fulham are wide of the mark too. They wasted a lot of their money, and didn't improve a poor defence. They also tried to play the possession football they played in the Championship against better teams and got found out. I'd like to think we'll be a bit more pragmatic in our playing style (mixing it up depending on who we play) and buy better quality than them. But we can't not spend - we probably only have three PL quality players right now (Grealish, McGinn, El Ghazi) and there are even question marks against them. We need much fuller investment over the coming weeks if we're to even compete against the bottom half teams. That quite frankly might well require spending well over £100mil - or having a bloody good scouting team. But the days of picking up a Kante for £7mil are arguably over, given how prices have inflated dramatically.

I don't think spending well over £100mil is reckless. Even if we spend £150mil, as long as we spend it well and it keeps us in the Prem next season, that is money well invested. Of course you could flip the other side of the coin and say well if we go down, we could be in trouble, but if we invest in young players with resale value then we should be able to recoup a fair chunk of that money anyway (if we go down, which I don't think we will if we invest wisely). Jack Butland for £20mil I actually think is a good deal. We need a good spine and I don't think Steer is PL quality. I also think Butland is good enough to displace Pickford as England's no. 1, partly because Pickford isn't actually that good, but even so. And we could then demand three times what we paid if he becomes England's no. 1. I think we need to spend big in many areas, not just striker. Goalkeeper, defensive midfielder, centre back. We need quality players in key areas to ensure we can compete next season, and that will cost if the players are actually any good.

I think I would like to see a bit more ambition shown from the club tbh. It's ok being linked to a few Championship players, like Butland and Benrahma who I do think are Prem quality, but we do need to dive a bit deeper into the European market as Wolves have done if we really want to make an impact next season in the Prem. I'm not bigging up Wolves, because I really don't like them, but they signed Deondocker, Jimenez, Jonny, Patricio and Moutinho when they went up - established big game players who have made an instant impact. We ain't gonna be anywhere near top half if we sign the players we've been linked to, in my honest opinion. Might stay up, but I don't think these signings really say 'wow, we mean business'. I'm not trying to put a negative on things, because we all know Wolves have had an unfair helping hand, but I'm unsure with the money we have and finally a top management team that we can't attract better. The only really big name we have been linked to so far is the Uruguay striker in Spain.