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@Xela, challenge accepted!

It's been bugging me for a while now and whilst the obvious answer is...''You can always improve', how do we get to the next level as a club and what positions do we strengthen in the Summer? I'm so in awe of the job Smith is doing and love so many of our players at the moment, I'm finding it hard to see who we replace in our current starting XI. I think most are in agreement that the following is our best XI when fit.... -----------------Watkins-------------- Grealish---------------------Traore ------------------Barkley-------------- ----------McGinn---Luiz------------- Targett--Mings--Konsa--Cash ---------------Martinez---------------- If we sell players, of course, that forces our hands a little, but say we were to keep hold of that XI in the summer, who is most at threat of losing their place in the side should we splash the cash? I'm not talking about squad players here, I know we need a backup left back etc... I feel the easy answer is Targett, or certainly would have been 12 weeks ago but his form is so fantastic that I wouldn't want anyone else in that position right now. For me, it's... 1. Barkley - I think we can improve on him. I'm a big fan of his but if you were to ask me right now who I think we could cope best without, it would be him. 2. Luiz - A classy operator and still so young but I still think we're crying out for a big, combative defensive midfielder. Again, I love Luiz, but is he top, top level? 3. Mings - Again, big fan of Tyrone but he's been overtaken in the pecking order by Konsa and his lapses in concentration have been a little too frequent this season. Just to put this into perspective. A couple of years ago, we lost to Wigan 3-0 at their place. Now we're arguing over whether Ross Barkley is good enough for us... This is a positive post - I love this team, squad, manager. UTV

There has been a lot of discussion about both barkley and Luiz so I thought I would create a topic about players we are likely to sell or buy next window. Sell: Luiz is most likely although not guaranteed, one of hause or engels we need better depth at cb so seeking them so we can bring in a good young player to develop like Leicester did with fofana is important, Taylor and Elmo will probably walk so at the very minimum we need another Lb preferably an upgrade on targett and we may need another rb if Smith doesn't think guilbert is up for it (I would disagree but whatever). I think we will probably part with el ghazi as well. So probably 5 players out. Buy/In: A replacement for Luiz in the event that he leaves, Barkley so far has good chemistry and if no issues appear he is good to have, Young CB, LW (Versatile hopefully) I still think Jack's future is at CAM so buying a LW allows us to be more versatile and play jack in different positions, LB.

So, keeping it realistic where possible, Is there a certain player or players you wouldn't like to see us sign during this window. (Keep it simple please ladies and gents, No squad lists of 25) I'll kick off.. Joe Hart.

Do we have a tread for this yet? I hear a new forward might be needed in January... If not, now we do. Been linked with quite a few players already but nothing done yet as far as I know. They've posted a list of players with expiring contracts in the Mail and there are some interesting names among them. Quite a few we'd never be able to attract of course. But some that we might. So as good a start as any https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/69-players-aston-villa-could-17076711

So with our new Sporting Director, Manager and Assistant Manager in place, who do we think we'll be looking at in January? Wonder if Terry might be able to lure Gary Cahill back to Villa? We sorely need a solid CB to partner Chester.

So. I know it's early and there's a long way to go this year. We may even be in a different division. We may not. One thing that is for sure is the rules have changed. The transfer window opens on June 9th and closes on Thursday 9th August at 5pm. So there are no transfers after the first fixture of the PL. And no one is staying up till midnight anymore. A week or so ago the EFL decided to join the party. https://www.efl.com/news/2018/february/earlier-closure-of-transfer-window-agreed-by-efl-clubs/ So if we don't go up we would still be able to loan players or sign free contract players up until the 31st August then. If we manage to go up then we'll need to have everything done before the first game. Senior contracts that expire (according to transfermarkt) this summer are John Terry (37) Chris Samba (34 in a few weeks time) Alan Hutton (33) Mark Bunn (33) Gabriel Agbonlahor (31) Snodgrass, Johnstone, Tuanzebe, Onomah and Grabban all come to the end of their loans. Gollini, Gil, Elphick, DeLaet, Gardner and Tshibola also come to the end of theirs. Players with 1 year left on their contracts will be Whelan (34) Jedinak (34 in the summer) Elphick (30) Richards (30 in the summer) DeLaet (29) Gil (25) Steer (25) Lyden (22) Green (20 in the summer) Anyway the summer transfer talk is starting to come out a bit so I thought maybe it was already time for a thread. https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/aston-villa-manchester-united-johnstone-14380943 Anyway window closes early so its only fair to open the thread so early is what I'm claiming and standing by I like the window closing basically before the league starts. It's about time really.

So with the start of the window coming soon do we think any faces will be leaving us come January? Surplus imo:- Bunn- contract expires end of season anyway. Richards, Elphick, De Laet, Lyden,- contracts end in summer 2019 and Tshisbola & McCormack end 2020. If we can offload this bunch and recoup about £6m in fees and slice a big chunk off the wage bill too and allow us to bring in players that we will use.

As a reprise from the intense going round in circle debate of Bruce's effectiveness as manager so far, and seeing we are in the transfer window, I was wondering hypothetically what fee would people think would be the best price we could get for our key players, and would be that magic number which the board would stop and consider selling? Obviously I'm not suggesting we sell any of these players, and selling them would massively harm our chances of promotions. But what fee would you accept, under the idea that ever player has a price, we were under no pressure to sell and if promised the transfer fee would be put straight back into funding incoming transfers? Chester - 15 mill? Taylor - 5 mill? Hutton - 2 mill? Whelan - 2 mill? Jedinak - 2 mill? Hourihane - 6 mill? Adomah - 15 mill? Green - 10 mill? Davis - 12 mill? Grealish - 18 mill? Kodjia - 18 mill?

Usually the transfer window is a time for excitement about new players, and I am very pleased with the Terry signing. I've really come round to it in a big way. Clearly we also need a keeper (probably Johnstone), we know Bruce wants Whelan (and you have to think it'll happen), and personally I'd like to see a quality attacking player come in given that this was our main downfall last year. This is all well and good, but our squad size is ridiculous. In many ways therefore I'd argue that pruning the squad effectively is at least as important as who comes in. Currently we have 34 players in and around the first team including likely signings - that's far too many to maintain the sort of solid, driven team spirit we need to mount a title challenge. It's a long season but I think we need to get this down to 25/26 max - which means cutting 9 or so. This thread is for discussion about where that might happen. Goalkeepers: Jed Steer, Mark Bunn, Sam Johnstone (probably) [3] Assuming Johnstone comes in you'd think we'll stick here, although I do wonder whether Steer might think it's time to move on in which case we may need to buy again somewhere. Obviously if Johnstone doesn't happen we need another number 1, it's an important position. Defenders: Alan Hutton, Richie de Laet, Micah Richards, James Bree, Tommy Elphick, John Terry, James Chester, Nathan Baker, Neil Taylor, Jordan Amavi, Aly Cissokho [11] We're way overloaded at the back - right back especially. I'd love to ship Richards but it's not going to happen, but this means we have four right backs even before you consider that Bacuna can play here. I see Hutton says he's staying but it might be time to be ruthless. He's been a good servant but one of him or de Laet has to go in my view as they're not young but retain resale value. Elsewhere Elphick isn't up to it and you'd think he'd have suitors - I'd see him go given that Jedinak and Richards can play there as needed. On the left you'd think Amavi will leave, which is a shame IMO but understandable from all sides. If Cissokho is happy to stay as our back-up left back then we're OK here, if not we'll need to replace him. Midfielders: Jedinak, Bacuna, Tshibola, Lansbury, Hourihane, Veretout, Bjarnason, Gardner, Lyden, Gil, Adomah, Green, Grealish, Whelan (probably) [14] Again, 14 midfielders is absurd. I don't really know why we signed Bjarnason for this squad but he's obviously going to stay. I'm not totally sure why we're in for Whelan either. On ability I'd happily ship Gardner but I don't think we will, and he seems a good character anyway. Veretout is probably a decent player at this level but if we can get £6m or so for him he's an obvious choice to leave. Gil will surely leave, Lyden should go out on loan, and Tshibola too if Bruce isn't going to use him. If someone wants to take Bacuna I'm open to it but he's a decent utility player so not too fussed either way. I think it's a big season for Green, and I like Adomah, but even still I wouldn't mind some additional quality on the wing if the right player is available. Forwards: McCormack, Kodjia, Hogan, Agbonlahor, Hepburn-Murphy, Davis (6) One area we're not overloaded in IMO, despite the numbers. Hogan and Gabby are both very injury prone, we have no idea how RMC will perform and frankly the same for RHM. Davis should head out on loan, maybe RHM too if he's not ready. We're stuck with Gabby but we're in real danger on being over-reliant on Kodjia again IMO. Striker is so vital so I'd like us to strengthen here - maybe someone who can also play wing. I've seen Walters mentioned so maybe Bruce is feeling the same. The chop list So whittling down all of the above, I think we should realistically be looking to get rid of: - Hutton/de Laet - Elphick - Amavi - Veretout - Gil - Tshibola (loan) - Lyden (loan) - Davis (loan) - Hepburn-Murphy (loan) Thoughts?

These are the usual suspects when discussing who we all want to see leave, or arguing should be kept on for another season. I was just curious if you could only pick one, who it would be? I always have a sense of the silent majority being against certain players leaving, the flip side of the coin being some people wanting them all gone. But for both those extremes and everyone in the middle, who is it you dislike being part of our club the most?

Now we have the main problems sorted, GK RB & CM's, Who are we likely to clearout? I'd go with Gollini - eventual sale during/after loan Bunn - Bench till Out of contract Hutton - train with U23 till OoC Richards - give away/payoff Elphick - Bench till Hull/S'land relegated then they buy Ally - Sell/loan to OoC Amavi - Last chance to prove himself Bacuna - Bench till sold Westwood - U23 -> Out asap - Give away/payoff Gardner - come on Forest you know you want to Jedi - see Elphick McC - if true -> sell Ayew - Last chance to prove himself/Anything over 8Mill sell Kozak - send get well soon card with P45 in May Gaby - 1) Give away = wont go 2) Payoff = wont take it 3) Buy him a Hor-house in Walsall with a built in Kebab/Shisha-bar, day Center for the kids & Pay Walsall to take him off our hands

Hi, I've been out of the loop a bit and the transfer thread moves at such a pace. I thought it would be useful to list the ins & outs that have happened this summer. Help me out with estimated fees as well. INS: 9 Peirluigi Gollini - Goalkeeper - Hellas Verona - £5m Tommy Elphick - Central Defender - Bournemouth - £3.3m James Chester - Central Defender - WBA - £8m Ritchie de Laet - Right-back - Leicester - £3m Mile Jedinak - Defensive Midfield - Crystal Palace - £4m Aaron Tshibola - Central Midfield - Reading - £5m Albert Adomah - Right Winger - Middlesbrough - TBC Ross McCormack - Attack - Fulham - £12m Jonathan Kodjia - Attack - Bristol City - £11m Loans: none Total - £51.3m OUT: 16 Ciaran Clark - Newcastle - £5m Idrissa Gana Gueye - Everton - £7.2m Scott Sinclair - Celtic - £3.5m Benjamin Siegrist - FC Vaduz - £0.2m Charles N'Zogbia - free Brad Guzan - Middlesborough - free Keiran Richardson - free Callum Robinson - Preston - free José Ángel Crespo - PAOK - free Carlos Sanchez - Fiorentina - Loan Carles Gil - Deportivo La Coruna- Loan Jordan Veretout - Saint Etienne - Loan Joe Bennett - Cardiff City - free Jores Okore - FC Copenhagen - free Joleon Lescott - AEK Athens - free Adama Traore - Middlesbrough - TBC Total - £15.9m NET SPEND (estimated) - £35.4m EDIT: updated for the comments below.

I would like to start a topic that I don't think has been discussed in much depth, however one that needs serious attention when considering how successful this transfer window was. I am over the moon with our summer activity and the people we have brought in, however I have one 'devil's advocate' question which has been bugging me for the last few days: IF we get promoted this season, are we going to sell players like Chester, Jedinak, Kodjia because they will not be able to compete at the top 10 PL level? Or are they just going to be in reserves and eating up our wage budget for the next 3/4 years? Xia showed some serious intention with these transfers, however I don't think any of the players that have been brought in can individually take us where the good Doctor wants to be. Unless of course, we create a real team and do a Leicester, but don't you think this is highly unlikely?

...as Take That once said. So we have spent a fair ol' whack of money on decent players and therefore many fans are going to inevitably expect instant results, promotion and an entitlement to success. Although I would say that promotion absolutely has to be the target given what we have spent, I am not personally expecting instant results and I don't think other fans should either. We have completely overhauled the team, the management, the backroom and the boardroom and the whole dynamic of the club has changed very suddenly. All of these new players have to get to know each other, get used to each other, get used to RDM's tactics and instructions, get used to the culture of the club, get used to the city of Birmingham, get used to playing at Villa Park, etc. If any of us moved jobs or our work had a total overhaul, we would expect to have a month or so at least in order to settle, get to know the environment, get to know our colleagues and how the ethos of the office works and how to work with different people and I do think people have to realise it is the same for footballers and staff at football clubs. I'm just conscious that if we don't get a result against Nottingham Forrest at the weekend we will immediately get comments like "same old ****", "xyz was a waste of money", "**** team is still a **** team", etc. which I think is very disheartening for everyone. Let's give the New Villa a chance to gel and get behind them? We have a good squad here and a good manager but it isn't going to happen over night. It is going to take months. I honestly believe if we can have a little bit of patience and ride the waves for a bit, we will have a very solid team here that will be difficult to beat and VP can be a fortress again. It will just take time, effort, patience and unyielding support from the fans. No "RDM out" nonsense after quarter of a season or booing players for making mistakes. That'll just take us back to the poisonous atmosphere we had last season and, ultimately, back to square one. I think our attitudes and expectations have to change with the club...

UPDATED - window closed February 3rd 2015 I know there is a transfer speculation thread, I thought I'd make one for completed transfers where the first post (ie, this one) is kept up to date with completed moves involving Premier League clubs and other noteworthy deals. I'll probably exclude fringe players being shipped out from big clubs to lower league clubs unless they are interesting. My definition of a fringe player is whether I've heard of him or not. Wolves have signed Jordan Graham from us on a free. Jordan Graham has a grand total of zero first team appearances for us, so nobody cares. ARSENAL IN Krystian Bielik (Legia Warsaw) £2.5m, Gabriel Paulista (Villarreal) £11.5m OUT Lukas Podolski (Internazionale) Loan Yaya Sanogo (Crystal Palace) Loan, Joel Campbell (Villarreal) Loan ASTON VILLA IN Carles Gil (Valencia) £3.2m (probably) Scott Sinclair (Manchester City) Loan OUT Darren Bent (Derby) Loan,Gary Gardner (Nottingham Forest) Loan, Chris Herd (Wigan Athletic) Loan until contract expires BURNLEY IN Michael Keane (Manchester United) Undisclosed OUT CHELSEA IN Juan Cuadrado (Fiorentina) £26m OUT Fernando Torres (AC Milan) undisclosed, Mark Schwarzer (Leicester City) free, Andre Schurrle (Wolfsburg) £22m, Mohamed Salah (Fiorentina) Loan, Ryan Bertrand (Southampton) £10m CRYSTAL PALACE IN Yaya Sanogo (Arsenal) Loan Shola Ameobi (unattached) free Wilfried Zaha (Manchester United) Undisclosed OUT Andy Johnson (released) wee Barry Bannan (Bolton Wanderers) loan EVERTON IN Aaron Lennon (Spurs) Loan OUT Samuel Eto'o (Sampdoria) Undisclosed HULL CITY IN Dame N’Doye (Lokomotiv Moscow) undisclosed OUT Tom Ince (Derby County) Loan LEICESTER CITY IN Mark Schwarzer (Chelsea) free Andrej Kramaric (HNK Rijeka) £8m Robert Huth (Stoke City) Loan OUT LIVERPOOL IN OUT MANCHESTER CITY IN Wilfried Bony (Swansea City) £28m OUT Matija Nastasic (Schalke 04) Loan Scott Sinclair (Aston Villa) Loan MANCHESTER UNITED IN Victor Valdes (unattached) OUT Michael Keane (Burnley) Undisclosed Darren Fletcher (West Bromwich Albion) Free Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) undisclosed NEWCASTLE UNITED IN OUT Hatem Ben Arfa (Nice) free, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa (Roma) £5.5m [loan deal made permanent] Davide Santon (Internazionale) loan QUEENS PARK RANGERS IN Mauro Zarate (West Ham United) loan OUT SOUTHAMPTON IN Eljero Elia (Werder Bremen) loan, Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea) £10m OUT Artur Boruc (Bournemouth) Loan extension STOKE CITY IN Philipp Wollscheid (Bayer Leverkusen) Loan OUT Ryan Shotton (Derby County) Undisclosed Robert Huth (Leicester City) Loan SUNDERLAND IN Jermain Defoe (Toronto) player exchange OUT Jozy Altidore (Toronto) player exchange SWANSEA CITY IN Matt Grimes (Exeter City, £1.75m), Nelson Oliveira (Benfica) Loan Kyle Naughton (Tottenham Hotspur) £5m OUT Wilfried Bony (Manchester City) £28m TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR IN OUT Kyle Naughton (Swansea City) £5m Aaron Lennon (Everton) Loan WEST BROMWICH ALBION IN Callum McManaman (Wigan Athletic) £4.75m Darren Fletcher (Manchester United) Free OUT WEST HAM UNITED IN Doneil Henry (Apollon Limassol) Undisclosed OUT Mauro Zarate (Queens Park Rangers) loan Ricardo Vaz Te Released INTERESTING EUROPEAN TRANSFERS: ITALY AC MILAN IN Alessio Cerci (Atletico Madrid) loan OUT Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid) loan INTERNAZIONALE IN Xherdan Shaqiri (Bayern Munich) £12m OUT SPAIN ATLETICO MADRID IN Fernando Torres (AC Milan) loan OUT Alessio Cerci (AC Milan) loan VALENCIA IN Enzo Perez (Benfica) £20m OUT