Villaphil

Once there’s a player on a 9 year contract being paid £300k a week, that turns out to be crap, these long contracts will become less common. No way of shifting them on, given the wages and the speed at which the transfer fee gets amortised.

We definitely need a left wing(er).…… I’ll get my coat

V Sports could pay him £150m over the next 3 years to front their MLS expansion plans, whilst charging Aston Villa £100k a week for his side hustle of turning out for Aston Villa every week. Certainly sounds FFP compliant ?????

Says he will stay to conduct Barca transfer business this summer. Going full on cheat mode, Digne to Barca for £90m + Pedri !!!

There’s no way Marseille were going to sell before this game with Monaco. Not saying it’s happening, just that it never was going to happen before this game had been played.

Agreed about mercenaries, but also don’t mind waiting for Man City / Real Madrid to decide to pass on a player before we sign them. If we are the highest placed team that is keeping an eye on a player, is that player really going to take us forward ???

Guendouzi and McKennie noise coming straight out of the Lange playbook. Quiet on Guendouzi (Target 1) with loads of noise (including fee) around McKennie (Target 2). Noise on Target 2 (Also see Calum Wilson) putting pressure on Club and player ref Target 1 (Also see Ollie Watkins).

Ref Benteke or Wesley debate …. Jhon Duran Duran He’s bigger than me or you He’s gonna score 1 or 2 Jhon Duran Duran

Thought Leeds had a clear tactic to force the ball into Konsa whose distribution doesn’t quite match that of Mings.

6 month loan would suit everyone involved?? Villa need improvement, Maguire needs game time and Utd want to be able to sell him in the summer.

What ! You mean Emery will have options, other than replace like for like but with a slightly worse player ??? That can’t be it, surely.

Any chance Emery is thinking of being able to stack both Digne and Moreno on the left hand side, rather than just ditch Digne. Maybe it’s horses for courses at left back, but with the ability to stack both when called for ???

DCL anyone ??

Completely agree on timing of a sale. However, just to throw it out there, Mings has 2 years left on his contract, do we offer the significant bump he would likely want, to extend his stay, or sell? My guess is Gerrard wants to run the club properly and thinks there’s better quality and value out there, vs extending his stay. Obviously the dynamic changed with the Carlos injury. I’ve not seen much on this conundrum from the Mings > Gerrard brigade.

Or we are going to have a chat with Rashford, at the weekend?

Makes a difference to the price we’d get for El Ghazi, that’s for certain, and that runs into millions. I’d imagine we’re trying to line up a few departures, but want them to go within a few days as we don’t want to create this inbuilt discount that everyone can assume.

Yes but where’s the fun in using that kind of logic ?? Tammy’s coming home

Done, as it is, was the phrase he used. As in, no purchase without sales. I think he’s right.

What will Tammy do ? It’s happening !!!

Wow, El Ghazi not on penalty duty tonight, he must be off soon !!

A lot to unpack there, but taking it in turn: We spent a lot on young players that would be good enough to progress us up the league structure whilst they develop and get better, with the intention that they get better as the team progresses and so take us even higher. See Mings, Konsa etc. Gerrard’s point to the board was that whilst that made football and financial sense (see links to our squad gaining £186m in value since purchase), at some point you are going to need experience and serious quality if you wish to progress further, after all we are looking to oust Man Utd and Arsenal from European spots. Buying young players tends to leave your squad thin on experience. Due to this policy we are now in a position where players that have served us well are now unable to help us rise those extra places into the top half and above. The 2 risks Gerrard has taken, is Digne and Diego Carlos, both of which were cheaper than you might expect, given the issues at the clubs involved, therefore mitigating some of that risk. With regards to youth players, yes we’ve some gems, but look at Chelsea, their youth players get experience abroad, the championship and even the Premier League, that tells you, you can’t perform to your best whilst also blooding a lot of youth players. The new left back is here because Chrisene isn’t ready yet, and he may never be, but the premier league is not the place to test that out, yet, at least. Beale will be a miss, but I expect Critchley to do a cracking job, and we’ll bring in further support, if needed. I’d answer the top 6 question by pointing out our lack of defensive cover in midfield, which has been filled now and I expect us to be far more resolute in defence this year. Wouldn’t be surprised if we went and got another 6 type player, especially if Dougie goes. UTV

With PSG needing to off-load Neymar before this Friday, otherwise they are obliged to offer him a 5 yr contract at £0.5m a week, guess who’s ready to step in if PSG let him go on a free !!

It’s possible that’s exactly what the club wants everyone to think, that we are happy with what we have? That’s what I’d do. Forces the price up on the players you want out the door and down on those players you want in. Lange is paid well to ensure no-one really knows what we are planning. This bluff and double bluff can make or save millions in the transfer window.

Don’t think he stays at PSG unless their offer is significantly better than Madrid’s.

They are paying him £1m a week too, not sure he’d be getting that if they’d paid £200m for him?