Winter transfer window 2020/1

[sidcow]

8 hours ago, One For The Road said:

There are no bargains in January, not unless a players contract is about to run and in that case its better waiting till the summer.

You obviously didn't read the rest of my post? 

[bose]

10 hours ago, sidcow said:

Which guy? 

Benni McCarthy

[Zhan_Zhuang]

11 hours ago, sidcow said:

Which guy? 

@AvfcRigo82

[Rob182]

14 hours ago, messi11 said:

Nah no signings, Just keep the team we've got now.
Winter transfer window is for the teams that aren't run very well. 

If we had a big squad of equal quality, I’d agree. But whenever you have a squad that needs changes, you need to assess how you‘re fading in the league in January.

Let’s say that we manage to keep up this good form and we’re sitting in 6th, only a handful of wins off 1st. Surely it’d make sense to dip into the market if something became available? Just because not every season is like this season, where it feels like any of the Top 12 could feasibly finish in European places.

Personally, if we’re in that kind of position, I wouldn’t be against us spending another £50-60m on 2-3 players just to add a few options or curveballs to our team.

[OxfordVillan]

If, come January, Villa find themselves in a league position that makes top 4 eminently possible, then adding one or two players of quality could be just the boost required to achieve it. I’m sure that the people in charge now recognise that and wouldn’t repeat the mistakes of the MON or Gregory eras, when not adding quality ultimately lead to falling away from the worthwhile places. It wouldn’t be easy, January never is. But it’s possible. And I’m confident that plans are already in place for 2 or 3 possible scenarios going into January, because we’re run properly now. 
As to our most pressing needs? At the moment I’d probably say we’re doing rather well and everyone is proving well worth their place, it’d take a really top player to come in and compete to shift any of the current starting 11. I think most of us would agree that the right sided forward position could be improved, though we’ve yet to really see anything of Traore who has been brought in to improve that, so we have to be careful to not overload the squad. So perhaps we have to be looking to improve our backup players? ElGhazi is prime to be upgraded as I think he is our only viable backup to Grealish on the left, and he consistently disappoints. So if we were to lose Grealish to injury etc then the fall in quality to ElGhazi is huge. You’d probably say the same thing with Watkins/Davis. So in the absence of the availability of a real gift of a player in January, I think we’re looking to upgrade a couple of backup players. And the positions where the biggest drop off in quality exists are CF (Watkins to Davis), LF (Grealish to ElGhazi), LB (Targett to Taylor) and DM (Luiz to ?). So for me I’d be hoping to get in improved backup to Luiz and Grealish if we were limited to two January arrivals. 

[KenjiOgiwara]

I think you can find players in January, as lots of clubs will maybe underperform and/or have economic difficulties due to Covid-19. 

It's rather likely we also can find players that can add depth to this squad. Our squad is pretty thin in quality to be fair. 

Edited November 13, 2020 by KenjiOgiwara

[Rob182]

After seeing how Cash, Konsa & Watkins have performed this season, we may aswell just unsettle a bunch of the Championships better players and put in bids, tempting them to request a transfer to us. 

Brentford would have us over a barrel for someone like Ivan Toney, but I’m sure there’s a few more Konsa/Cash types down there whose clubs couldn’t turn down a move for £10-12m 

[KMitch]

3 hours ago, OxfordVillan said:

If, come January, Villa find themselves in a league position that makes top 4 eminently possible, then adding one or two players of quality could be just the boost required to achieve it. I’m sure that the people in charge now recognise that and wouldn’t repeat the mistakes of the MON or Gregory eras, when not adding quality ultimately lead to falling away from the worthwhile places. It wouldn’t be easy, January never is. But it’s possible. And I’m confident that plans are already in place for 2 or 3 possible scenarios going into January, because we’re run properly now. 
As to our most pressing needs? At the moment I’d probably say we’re doing rather well and everyone is proving well worth their place, it’d take a really top player to come in and compete to shift any of the current starting 11. I think most of us would agree that the right sided forward position could be improved, though we’ve yet to really see anything of Traore who has been brought in to improve that, so we have to be careful to not overload the squad. So perhaps we have to be looking to improve our backup players? ElGhazi is prime to be upgraded as I think he is our only viable backup to Grealish on the left, and he consistently disappoints. So if we were to lose Grealish to injury etc then the fall in quality to ElGhazi is huge. You’d probably say the same thing with Watkins/Davis. So in the absence of the availability of a real gift of a player in January, I think we’re looking to upgrade a couple of backup players. And the positions where the biggest drop off in quality exists are CF (Watkins to Davis), LF (Grealish to ElGhazi), LB (Targett to Taylor) and DM (Luiz to ?). So for me I’d be hoping to get in improved backup to Luiz and Grealish if we were limited to two January arrivals. 

The problem is that you don't progress as a team if you just upgrade bench players...  You need to get a player better than your starter, pushing them to the bench and/or drives them to be better and compete for the starting spot (as Trezeguet has been doing since Traore signed).  That's what creates quality depth within a team.  When the summer window opened I think you'd be hard pressed to find a Villa supporter who would have said that RB was a position of need and that we would be bringing in Cash, when we already had someone most of us rate in Guilbert.  Cash showed just how much of an improvement he was and how much he stepped up our overall defensive ability.  Honestly, if a player as good or better than any of our current starters becomes available for the right price, we need to buy them, regardless of position.  

 

 

[ender4]

I think FFP will mean we buy 1 player maximum, and only if the right player becomes available at the right price.

Though finishing 7th rather than 17th means an extra £20 million in TV merit money, which could be used if that looks likely.

 

Edited November 12, 2020 by ender4

[Kiwivillan]

20 hours ago, Loxstock92 said:

BBC Gossip column says we’re interested in Fabian Baptista from Benfica. 19 year old winger. Anyone heard of him?

Looks like usual bollocks. Italian article says Atlanta interested in player from Benfica B team and chucks in a couple of PL teams that are "monitoring"

Article came up on my feed the other day. Manure to bid for Grealish again in January. Read article Manure pundit thinks Grealish would be good addition for Manure. Absolute click bait BS

[Awol]

A young Villa fan on YouTube reckons we’re linked to a 20 yr old right footed French CB called Mohamed Simakan. Can’t see anyone pushing Ezri out right now but all for bringing in young quality. 

[VillaChris]

Jovic was really lively when he came on for Serbia, constantly getting on the end of crosses.

Barely played in last year at Real Madrid so they'd happily loan him out with option to buy. He scored loads in Bundesliga so would like to think that's the type we'd be in for if he becomes available in January.

[Tomaszk]

Jovic is class but just escaped some sort of Serbian prison sentence for flouting lockdown rules Don't know what he did but it must have been more than just going out. 

 

[paul514]

People keep saying if come January we are in this or that position high up the table we should buy x.

Our board doesn’t work like this they spend what they are allowed to or have so far anyway.

IF there is money available and IF the right players that they have identified have become available then I am sure they will make bids.

Clearly going by our own judgements and the judgement of the manager in use of his subs this season he doesn’t feel he can make a better situation from our bench other than a wide forward.

So a centre back and defensive midfielder is needed when the player and cash is available.

In general we are 4 short as we need two full backs as well to have a bench when everyone is fit when you can change anyone in or out.

That is no different to when the window closed in the summer though.

[Mazrim]

I think we need to speculate from a good league position / momentum and go for it in Jan. Have a go for a top 4 place. Why not? We've already beaten top teams this season.

While there's a perception we're a team on the way up, a popular watch for neutrals, let's stock up on talent and go for it. Its the best way of keeping Jack long term too.

[Philosopher]

In order to have squad depth, and good competition for places I would say we need an attacking wide player, a hard working central / defensive midfielder, a left back and maybe a centre back. 

We are obviously not going to do all that business in the winter transfer window, and quite rightly. But if the right players are available and we are competing for a European place then a couple of those positions should at least be looked at.

I agree that we shouldn't be signing players simply based on league position, but as with any club we should always be looking to improve and address perceived weaknesses. 

For me we need another creative player. Jack is playing international football now so the workload is rather large, yet if he is injured we'll basically be severely impacted. Barkley getting injured will have a similar impact, only not quite as drastic. So we need a creative playmaker type that can play across the 3 positions behind the striker.

The other position I'd prioritise is left back, for obvious reasons. Targett has been good so far this season after a couple of shakey looking performances at the start. However I still think we'd be better with a more dynamic left back, and Taylor is gone at the end of the season. Bringing in a new left back when they aren't under pressure to slot right in is a great position to be in.

The central midfield is almost as big an issue to me as the other two but in the three backs up we have I feel they deserve a chance to prove themselves. I don’t think we have seen the best of Nakamba, young Ramsey is a prospect and Conor's set pieces are a potent weapon. So I think we can get by.

In central defence lots of people don't rate Hause. I do! I don't think he is great, but defensively he is athletic, great in the air, a good tackler, and reasonable with his positioning. His weakness is distribution. However our our 3 centre backs are pretty good in that area, so as longs as he is instructed to keep it simple and move the ball quickly we won't be too hampered. Engels is who I worry about as even though his distribution is outstanding, he just isn't much of an athlete and if you look at our first team bar Targett every player has a reasonable level of athleticism. I believe dynamism is important to our style of play. He is also injury prone. Hause picks up the occasional injury and Mings has had two majors injuries. So another centre back would not go amiss. The only caveat to this is Mungo Bridge seems to be highly rated by Smith so maybe he is seen a an acceptable 5th choice.

The only player I have in mind for any of this is my number two target for the summer Emi Buendia! This would be a fantastic signing and he would fit right.

[AntrimBlack]

I think our greatest needs, depending on availability and price, are a CB of equal quality to Mings and Konza (Engels is the invisible man and Hause is not PL quality), a better LB than Targett (Targett to be backup/competition), an RB as backup/ competition for Cash (Guilbert is out of favour and Elmohamady is too old).

[Kingman]

A heavily incentivised pay as you play/stay fit deal for Jack Wiltshire might be tempting. 

29 in January, If he stays fit could be an ideal replacement for Luiz should City active the clause. 

[GarethRDR]

1 minute ago, Kingman said:

A heavily incentivised pay as you play/stay fit deal for Jack Wiltshire might be tempting. 

29 in January, If he stays fit could be an ideal replacement for Luiz should City active the clause. 

Don't mean to sound overly-harsh, but that's the kind of bonkers thinking I'd expect from pre-relegation, run-like-a-circus Villa.  If hypothetically City take Luiz back, I'd hope/expect to see all of that cash put towards a bringing in a quality replacement.

[Kingman]

13 minutes ago, GarethRDR said:

Don't mean to sound overly-harsh, but that's the kind of bonkers thinking I'd expect from pre-relegation, run-like-a-circus Villa.  If hypothetically City take Luiz back, I'd hope/expect to see all of that cash put towards a bringing in a quality replacement.

Like I say, Heavily Incentivised Pay as you play/stay fit deal. 

He's available on a free and would cost next to nothing if he doesn't play. 

Obviously if he gets in the starting 11 then he would have been in exceptional form to even be considered, Fully fit would also be a improvement on Nakamba and Connor off the bench as well. 

Edited November 13, 2020 by Kingman