January 2017 transfer window

[thunderball]

it won't just be Bruce's decision, Steve Round will have as much or more say, and I am sure the football board will chip in too. They will look for value and long termite hopefully. 

It will be Bruce will say what he think the team needs and the club will provide. Hopefully he will have rehabilitated Agbonlahor enough so he can be sold in January ;-)

[mjmooney]

3 minutes ago, thunderball said:

They will look for value and long termite hopefully. 

They're getting antsy already. 

[BG_Villa_Fan]

Doesn't matter if he gets exciting signings or dull ones, as long as he wins football games. 

[Villan4Life]

We are watching Dundalk winger Daryl Horgan who has recently been called upto the Republic of Ireland squad.

 

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/aston-villa-transfer-rumour-mill-12137315

 

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Aston Villa are reportedly set to rival Newcastle United for Irish sensation Daryl Horgan.

The winger has been in scintillating form for Dundalk this season and led them into the Europa League.

He has already won the League of Ireland title and will face Cork City in the FAI Cup Final this afternoon looking to complete a memorable double.

Horgan’s form has been that impressive that former Villa manager Martin O’Neill called him up to the Republic of Ireland squad for the first time recently.

 

[dubliner]

3 hours ago, Villan4Life said:

We are watching Dundalk winger Daryl Horgan who has recently been called upto the Republic of Ireland squad.

 

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/aston-villa-transfer-rumour-mill-12137315

 

 

For anyone not familiar with this lad, trust me he can play.

Scored a great goal Thursday night away to Zenit and has been outstanding all season.

Nothing to lose signing him on a free 

[Villan4Life]

Just now, dubliner said:

For anyone not familiar with this lad, trust me he can play.

Scored a great goal Thursday night away to Zenit and has been outstanding all season.

Nothing to lose signing him on a free 

He's on a free from December according to The Sun.. Have watched him a fair bit myself and would be a cracking signing for us.

 

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/efl/2127735/newcastle-united-and-aston-villa-are-the-latest-club-to-send-scouts-to-watch-dundalks-europa-league-star-daryl-horgan/

 

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EFL clubs Newcastle United and Aston Villa are the latest teams to send scouts to watch Dundalk’s rising star Daryl Horgan.

The winger has been a stand-out played in the Irish side’s Europa League campaign, and scored in the recent 2-1 defeat against Zenit St. Petersburg.

Rafa Benitez has been so impressed by the 24-year-old that he sent over representatives of the Magpies to watch the player take part in the FAI Cup Final against Cork City today, where he came out on the losing side, conceding in the last minute of extra-time.

So far, Horgan has spent his whole career in his native Ireland, but to the delight of managers in England, his contract at Dundalk runs out on December 8 this year.

After his excellent goal away in Russia on Thursday night, Steve Bruce’s Villa side have taken an interest in acquiring his services, with Ipswich, Reading and Preston all keeping a watchful eye on his current situation.

Horgan has recently been named the division’s player of the year, and has helped his team win their third straight league title.

In Ireland they play a Summer league, and Horgan has chipped in with ten goals.

He has also been called up to his country’s senior squad for the first time as the Green Army take on Austria in their upcoming World Cup qualifier.

Newcastle have been in emphatic form of late, storming to the top of the EFL table, winning their last seven games in a row.

In 16 league games they have found the back of the net 34 times, and if they sign the pacey winger, their chances of instant promotion back into the Premier League could be made that little bit easier.

Aston Villa are also on a rich vein of form, having been languishing near the foot of the table for the majority of the season, they have steadied the ship since ex-Birmingham boss Steve Bruce took charge.

Unbeaten since he became manager, he has guided the Midlands club up the table into 14th - five points off the play-off paces after three wins in their last five games.

 

[Villan4Life]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3913110/Aston-Villa-track-Greenock-Morton-winger-Jai-Quitongo-amid-West-Ham-Crystal-Palace-Swansea-Wigan.html

 

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Aston Villa are following Greenock Morton's highly-rated winger Jai Quitongo.
The 19-year-old is out of contract in the summer and free to talk to foreign and cross-border clubs in January.
West Ham, Crystal Palace, Swansea and Wigan have also checked on the pacy forward this season.

Villa sent scouts to watch Quitongo against Falkirk at the weekend and will watch him in action for Scotland U21s after he was called up for their squad to face Slovenia.
He is also eligible to play for Portugal who have expressed interest in calling him up for their U21s.
Quitongo has scored six goals in 20 appearances this season and is regarded as a player of promise. 
Doncaster Rovers had a £100,000 offer rejected in the summer and Preston have also discussed a potential move.
However, Villa have a budget to outbid Championship rivals and compete with Premier League suitors.

 

[villaglint]

Interesting we are linked with 2 wingers so far I'd have thought centre midfielders would have been a fairly glaring priority 

[sne]

5 minutes ago, villaglint said:

Interesting we are linked with 2 wingers so far I'd have thought centre midfielders would have been a fairly glaring priority 

I do feel we need another wide option as Adomah is our only real actual wide player.

But yeah, CM (and RB) must be the priority.

[Villan4Life]

2 hours ago, dubliner said:

For anyone not familiar with this lad, trust me he can play.

Scored a great goal Thursday night away to Zenit and has been outstanding all season.

Nothing to lose signing him on a free 

Here is his goal vs Zenit.. Very fast player!

 

 

[Johnnyp]

Tom Carroll would be a solid addition to our midfield.

[maqroll]

16 hours ago, mjmooney said:

They're getting antsy already. 

Clearly someone's put the bug in Tony's ear

[dont_do_it_doug.]

I do miss the days when we had a big Irish contingent at the club. It just feels very 'Aston Villa' to me, growing up with 5 or 6 Irish lads in the squad. Beyond that, Birmingham has to be one of the biggest Irish settlements in the world outside of Ireland?

[Guest av1]

28 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

I do miss the days when we had a big Irish contingent at the club. It just feels very 'Aston Villa' to me, growing up with 5 or 6 Irish lads in the squad. Beyond that, Birmingham has to be one of the biggest Irish settlements in the world outside of Ireland?

Agreed. After England failed to qualify for the 94 world cup i think most Villa fans became Irish supporters for a couple of weeks. God had Baggio in his pocket all afternoon and Houghton scored a screamer, what a game. 

 

[Johnnyp]

16 hours ago, Villan4Life said:

Here is his goal vs Zenit.. Very fast player!

 

 

Whilst acknowledging how good Horgan is, after watching how Towell has failed to make any impact at all at Brighton, I'd air on the side of caution. Think they don't realise the jump up in levels. Saying that, Horgan is playing very well against solid European clubs.

[Corcaigh]

Be weird seeing that pixie troll traitor show up at Villa. Good player alright, fast with an eye for goal.

[TRO]

4 hours ago, Johnnyp said:

Whilst acknowledging how good Horgan is, after watching how Towell has failed to make any impact at all at Brighton, I'd air on the side of caution. Think they don't realise the jump up in levels. Saying that, Horgan is playing very well against solid European clubs.

I would want to see much more of the player than one exhibition of raw pace.....These incidents don't always present themselves particularly against good sides.

Pace is great and more prominent in todays game....but there are many players that have carved out great careers without pace.

We have seen many of these players faulter in other aspects of the game and end up redundant for much of the match..... we can't afford that anymore.

They all have to be " at it" to progress.

[IwishIwasalivein1982]

22 hours ago, sne said:

I do feel we need another wide option as Adomah is our only real actual wide player.

But yeah, CM (and RB) must be the priority.

I think we have too many RBs on the books at the moment.

I'd accept a loan but I don't think a permement transfer is the best idea

[Villan4Life]

Mail linked us with Beram Kayal

 

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/who-aston-villa-target-beram-12146975

 

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Well, the 28-year-old is highly thought of at his current club but is currently sidelined with an ankle injury.

Kayal is out of next Friday’s clash between Brighton and Villa but he’ll be watching on from the sidelines cheering on the hosts.

He’s made it clear in the past that his aim is to play in the Premier League and given that he’s a major part of the team who are currently second-placed in the Championship, it would take a lot of convincing to get him to switch to the Midlands.

CAREER SO FAR

Kayal grew up in Israel but always dreamed of moving across Europe to play for a high-profile club.

As a kid he used to travel eight hours a day from a small village in Jadeidi to train with Maccabi Haifa.

Aged 17, he left his family home and moved to Haifa.

“I was preparing my mind to play in Europe one day, so I needed to be ready to leave the house,” he said.

Kayal made over 100 appearances before moving to Celtic. His first season in Scotland was a huge success and he claimed that both Liverpool and Manchester United were interested in signing him.

Then came the injury problems. A crunching tackle from Rangers’ Lee McCulloch – who Kayal swears deliberately set out to hurt him – wiped out four months of his career and that was only the start.

In a Champions League clash with AC Milan, Kaka collided with him and another lengthy spell followed. He struggled to find his best form and joined Brighton.

Since then he’s turned his career around and has put in a number of impressive and disciplined displays.

PLAYING STYLE

A tenacious and tough-tackling midfielder who likes to get stuck in and enjoy the combative side of the game. Kayal is a menace on his day and a match for any Championship opponent.

He likes to drive his team forward but the best part of his game comes in defence. An athletic all-rounder who reads the game well, is strong in the tackle, and also now an experienced performer.

He won’t score many but he’ll do a fine job protecting the backline from letting any in.

CHARACTER

Kayal is an Israeli Arab who reads the same passage from the Qur’an before matches.

His upbringing has also sharpened his mental toughness. Clearly, he’s had to work hard to get to where he is. Those long bus and train journeys as a young teenager prepared him well for the daily grind.

There were times at Celtic when he appeared to be getting too big for his boots, though.

Hogging the limelight during the 2014 title-winning celebrations, a picture emerged of him taking a selfie in front of the rest of the team where they were posing for end-of-season pictures.

At Brighton, though, he has become more grounded. A father now and one of the more experienced players in a flourishing side aiming for the Premier League, Kayal is a player doing well for himself and rightly earning the respect of those around him

VILLA’S CHANCES OF LANDING HIM

Well, that depends on his ambitions, of course.

With his contract expiring next summer, Kayal can agree a pre-contract with a new club in January. He could also decide to make the switch as early as the next transfer window.

He wants to play in the Premier League and his best chance of achieving that appears to be by sticking with Brighton this season.

Villa could offer bigger wages, though, and if their form continues they could argue that there’s a chance of top-flight football at Villa Park next season. Bruce has been keen for some time.

He tracked Kayal and Hull City and has already been promised funds to strengthen. Only time will tell.

 

[dn1982]

8 hours ago, IwishIwasalivein1982 said:

I think we have too many RBs on the books at the moment.

I'd accept a loan but I don't think a permement transfer is the best idea

Loan Jenkinson