Summer transfer window 2021

[Philosopher]

9 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

I think Kessler will be a great player for us. Let him enjoy his loan at Swindon this year. Get him out on loan to the championship next year and the season after that, I’d be surprised if he wasn’t knocking on the door of the first team. 

He’s got everything it takes to be a top player in my opinion. 

I agree he should stay at Swindon, especially as he has started so well. However I think we should keep Hi. At the club next season if he does well, and shows good consistency. 

[thunderball]

3 years back and we still have quite a bit to do squad wise. I think we now find our place w are not ready for Europe yet, but we do need to start adding quality and retaining our best. The best chance we have is if we get 2 or 3 academy guys firing, they will surprise a few, then ‘only’ have to spend on very good established players. The incremental improvement will be by upgrading anyone in the first team by notably better from here on. The squad value has improved over its cost base too, which is healthy and an objective.

The job is no where near done, Rome wasn’t built in a day, you only have to look at the squad to see where we can and need to improve: Davis, Nakamba, AEG, Trez, Guilbert, Haus, Missing GK, Hourihane, and shortly Young all offer the next steps. There’s a few spare squad places left too. I also think that McGinn, Mings and Luiz need big seasons to demonstrate development.

Actually glad the Grealish circus is over. Incidentally, he looks utterly wasted at City.

Edited September 1, 2021 by thunderball

[alreadyexists]

1 minute ago, thunderball said:

3 years back and we still have quite a bit to do squad wise. I think we now find our place w are not ready for Europe yet, but we do need to start adding quality and retaining our best. The best chance we have is if we get 2 or 3 academy guys firing, they will surprise a few, then ‘only’ have to spend on very good established players. The incremental improvement will be by upgrading anyone in the first team by notably better from here on. The squad value has improved over its cost base too, which is healthy and an objective.

Actually glad the Grealish circus is over. Incidentally, he looks utterly wasted at City.

He does. Getting 70mins a game, not the main man anymore, but I’m sure he’ll enjoy the shiny medal at the end. 

[desensitized43]

33 minutes ago, DaveAV1 said:

I think it’s too early to tell really. It takes weeks or even months before we will know how new players turn out. Ok we have a fair indication when looking at more experienced players like Ings, Young and Tuanzebe. Buendia has PL experience and isn’t new to the country and will hopefully settle once the international nonsense is out of the way, the signs are good for him. Bailey looks great but to be honest he’s hardly kicked a ball for us yet and is new to the country let alone the club. 

Anyone of them could be a success or failure, for lots of reasons. Ross Barkley started well last season and I think most of us regarded his signing positively after a few games, but that didn’t work out at all. On the plus side the other summer signing last season have all done very well. By Christmas, if they all get/remain fit we should have a better idea. 

Of course none of us really know how the existing players have developed over the summer. Hopefully they’ve all took a step forward, but some could have stood still or gone the other way. The young lads, you’d hope, could have really made positive strides. There’s usually a surprise player good or bad, we can only wait and see. Sanson is the most obvious potential bonus, in the, “like a new player”, sense if he ever gets fit. 

I’m not disagreeing with your 6/10, just that I think it’s too early to really say.  Hopefully your 6 becomes a 7 or 8 by Christmas and not a 4 or 5. We’ll see, but there’s a strong possibility that even by Christmas some posters will regard this window as a success and others as a failure almost regardless of how things actually turn out. We haven’t even appointed the official team scapegoat for the season yet. Although some have Deano as their default setting for every set back. Fingers crossed we’re not desperate for a panic buy come January and our only real interest in that window is a leisurely stroll around the shops picking up the odd bargain. 

I agree there’s always a degree of hindsight. We don’t know if we’ve done enough yet or not.

My (admittedly crude) grading is more of a reflection of how I feel we’ve done without that benefit of hindsight. I don’t think I’m alone in feeling just a little bit disappointed we’re going into the season with Nakamba, luiz, McGinn and sanson as our first team central midfield options. That’s not to be disrespectful to any of them. I think they’re solid mid to lower half premier league players which is why this will (IMO) be a consolidation season. Try and match what we did last year, but as we all know in this league if you aren’t moving forward you’re moving backward.

I’d love nothing more than to be underestimating our business though.

[M_Afro]

Our new signings 10/10, -2 for not signing a centre mid and -1 for losing Grealish. Overall a solid 7/10.

[CVByrne]

5 minutes ago, thunderball said:

3 years back and we still have quite a bit to do squad wise. I think we now find our place w are not ready for Europe yet, but we do need to start adding quality and retaining our best. The best chance we have is if we get 2 or 3 academy guys firing, they will surprise a few, then ‘only’ have to spend on very good established players. The incremental improvement will be by upgrading anyone in the first team by notably better from here on. The squad value has improved over its cost base too, which is healthy and an objective.

Actually glad the Grealish circus is over. Incidentally, he looks utterly wasted at City.

In a little over 12 months 

Martinez, Cash, Watkins, Traore, Sanson, Ings, Buendia, Bailey, Young and Tuanzabe have joined the club. Not to mention Ramsey, JPB and Chukwuemeka have joined the squad from the academy. 

The only two players of note to leave have been Grealish and Heaton. 

We will be able to leap Leicester, West Ham and Everton properly in the next two seasons. We can hope for Arsenal troubles to remain and progress this club into a Top 6 side and win a trophy. 

I personally love the steady progression, the superb transfer business and most of all the investment in the Academy. 

[sne]

Probably grade our window as a C overall.

No getting around that we lost one of the best players in the league in Grealish. Impossible to replace him like for like.

Big fan of all the players we brought in thou. Buendia and Bailey are both players who I think will be hits once they get up to speed and Ings is a top striker who also works hard. Remains to see how we will fit them all in to the starting 11 alongside Watkins when everyone is fit but we hopefully have a plan.

Young and Tuanzebe are both improvements on the players they replace. And we've been able to get rid of a few salary posts with players who's been releasesed or loaned out. Not 100% on loaning out Guilbert but I guess Young can cover there too.

It feels like due to Covid economy and the Ligue 1 TV-fiasco this was the window where we could have gone and got some real bargains or picked up talents who usually would not been available to us but that didn't come off and we still didn't get any of or midfield targets or addressed the issues I feel we have there (feel free to have your own opinions on those or if there are any). 

We are still a small money operation on the whole thou regardless of how much money we've spent on transfers in the last couple of seasons. We don't generate much money compared to our competition and we can't expect to outspend all of Europe every season.

So, on the whole some great players brought in and one amazing one out. Depending on how we line up we might have a better starting 11 and a better squad too. But only by very little IMO. I feel we probably stood still more or less but it might take time for this post Grealish Villa to get. It was a solid window but since we did our business early and didn't manage to get any midfielder in despite trying it probably feels worse than it was.

Summer Transfer Window 2021: Grade C

[villa89]

1 hour ago, CVByrne said:

I can see the final piece of the plan for midfield was to get JWP and then let Nakamba or Luiz find a new club

There's no way we were going to let Luiz go, he's probably our best midfielder. The only reason to sell him is if he won't sign a new contract. 

[CVByrne]

10 minutes ago, villa89 said:

There's no way we were going to let Luiz go, he's probably our best midfielder. The only reason to sell him is if he won't sign a new contract. 

I'd seen it reported in a couple of places we were expecting offers for him. He has 2 years left on his contract and I get the feeling it's he who hasn't settled in Birmingham/England. He's not learned anything more than a little English after 2 years here. I don't expect him to sign a new deal and think this is his last season here. 

[dukes]

I'm happy overall with our transfer window.

Buendia, Bailey and Ings are fantastic aquisitions, Young is a sound addition, particularly as he will help with the younger players, and can replace Terry as a senior figure they can look up to.

Tuanzebe is a decent loan, and a known quantity 

Particularly the signings of Bailey and Ings stand out for me as these are players that have constantly been linked to champions league clubs, and the Ings signing and speed that it happened indicates that players are buying in to out 5 year plan.

Losing Grealish was expected and I think even without signing a CDM we've improved our starting 11.

I give the window an 8/10 and am optimistic that we can improve on 11th position.

[Tomaszk]

8 hours ago, foreveryoung said:

I wouldn't say 11th is bottom half, I'd say midtable, unless you wanna talk maths.

Is 9th top half?

2 hours ago, Big Salad said:

I think some fans will see it as an abject failure if we do not make Europe this season. 

Anyone that thinks 8th this season is an abject failure is incorrect.

[desensitized43]

2 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

I'd seen it reported in a couple of places we were expecting offers for him. He has 2 years left on his contract and I get the feeling it's he who hasn't settled in Birmingham/England. He's not learned anything more than a little English after 2 years here. I don't expect him to sign a new deal and think this is his last season here. 

There appears to be a few like that in our squad. I follow all the players socials and it's extremely rare to see Guilbert, Sanson or Luiz post in English. It's not anything to "get" at them. Football is a universal language but it does make you question how much they've committed to playing in England, especially in the case of Luiz who'd been on the books of Man City (although loaned out abroad) for a couple of years before coming here.

Maybe I read too much into it, Aguero's English was horrible even after a decade in England...and have you ever heard John McGinn speak? Can't understand a word of it 

[hippo]

I'm sensing a change of direction. I hoped - perhaps unrealistically that continued investment each season in the playing squad would make us a threat to clubs at the top.

Instead we reinvested the Grealish money and promoted a few teenagers to the first team squad.

[thabucks]

For me it’s not just about the payers we’ve signed it’s also about who we have coming through. They have made a calculated decision not to strengthen CM based on the evidence they see daily in training and out on the pitch. Not sure how anyone can be too critical of this approach. Most fans always want one more (I did ) but just because we didn’t, doesn’t mean it’s a dereliction of duty or whatever hyperbolic phrase you want to use… let’s see where we are in a few months and then we can make a judgement. My expectations are we will have a few ropey results as the team gels etc but we have improved where most needed and I’m excited to see the team progress. Too early to make any form of predictions but I’m quietly confident the sky isn’t gunna fall in and we will have a good season …

[Jareth]

We target players these days, all the targets come off and we improve fast, less and we improve slower. But last thing we wanted was any player that didn't fit like a glove and who would be taking wages away from future targets. Whereas academy players fit - they may not be the finished product but they're up to speed and they are not taking up those large pointless wages. More than happy with this approach. 

[mikeyp102]

I never thought we’d get a dm as Smith doesn’t seem to like to play that way. I did hope for a top class midfielder and a backup GK to come in. 
Not a bad window, think Bailey will be a great signing and Ings will score goals. Buendia will be good. Tuanzebe not my first choice but on loan not bad, and taking will do a good job. 
 

I am confused by the line up we will go and how Watkins and Ings will work. 
 

All sales/loans I’m happy with apart from the big loss. 
 

Overall, 7/10 window 

[CVByrne]

8 minutes ago, desensitized43 said:

There appears to be a few like that in our squad. I follow all the players socials and it's extremely rare to see Guilbert, Sanson or Luiz post in English. It's not anything to "get" at them. Football is a universal language but it does make you question how much they've committed to playing in England, especially in the case of Luiz who'd been on the books of Man City (although loaned out abroad) for a couple of years before coming here.

Maybe I read too much into it, Aguero's English was horrible even after a decade in England...and have you ever heard John McGinn speak? Can't understand a word of it 

Sanson has only moved here this year. I'm sure he'll learn fluent English soon if he's not already close to that.

It's more than just learning the language though. Sometimes people and their families don't settle. Even more so during a global pandemic. 

[John]

21 minutes ago, sne said:

Probably grade our window as a C overall.

No getting around that we lost one of the best players in the league in Grealish. Impossible to replace him like for like.

Big fan of all the players we brought in thou. Buendia and Bailey are both players who I think will be hits once they get up to speed and Ings is a top striker who also works hard. Remains to see how we will fit them all in to the starting 11 alongside Watkins when everyone is fit but we hopefully have a plan.

Young and Tuanzebe are both improvements on the players they replace. And we've been able to get rid of a few salary posts with players who's been releasesed or loaned out. Not 100% on loaning out Guilbert but I guess Young can cover there too.

It feels like due to Covid economy and the Ligue 1 TV-fiasco this was the window where we could have gone and got some real bargains or picked up talents who usually would not been available to us but that didn't come off and we still didn't get any of or midfield targets or addressed the issues I feel we have there (feel free to have your own opinions on those or if there are any). 

We are still a small money operation on the whole thou regardless of how much money we've spent on transfers in the last couple of seasons. We don't generate much money compared to our competition and we can't expect to outspend all of Europe every season.

So, on the whole some great players brought in and one amazing one out. Depending on how we line up we might have a better starting 11 and a better squad too. But only by very little IMO. I feel we probably stood still more or less but it might take time for this post Grealish Villa to get. It was a solid window but since we did our business early and didn't manage to get any midfielder in despite trying it probably feels worse than it was.

Summer Transfer Window 2021: Grade C

Agreed. I would probably increase the overall mark to a B though, because I've used an algorithm to calculate my grades.  

It was always going to be tough to replace our previous captain in one window, but I agree that the signings that we have made are absolutely top drawer. I also viewed this as a window in which we could have made a couple more signings that would have seen us kick past those clubs that were directly above us last season. We started strongly by signing Buendia and going on to sign Ings along with Bailey, with the income from Citeh further strengthened us. Trouble is we then didn't go on to land another target and we are therefore left with a zero net spend on transfer fees, at a time when we had been anticipating a net spend of somewhere around £70m. 

I hope that when we have all our players available to select from we will be able to finish where we did last season or even a couple of places higher, but I will always have the nagging question of what might have been, if we had been able to get another couple of players over the line during this window. All that I wanted was a little more...:

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

Good little watch, to be fair, it really does seem outsiders and pundits think we've had a good window.

Are we just greedy?

With Ornstein , Robbie Earl and others, also bigs up the owners and ambitions etc.

Interestingly also mentions, that he thinks Dean will come under pressure if results don't come.

Mentions the Academy and that we have some very good youth coming through, which we will see grow over the course of the season.

EDIT: The other bloke says he doesn't think Dean Smith will be under added pressure, as it's about steady progress.

So arguments for both sides in there.

Edited September 1, 2021 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[Zatman]

5 hours ago, Keyblade said:

You improve the squad by buying first teamers that push the current starters to the bench. It's what we've done already.

El Ghazi and Trez from first choice to 3rd/4th choice respectively in 2 seasons. The owners not buying squad players doesn't indicate the taps have been turned off, just that we couldn't find the right player to go straight into the first team.

We obviously thought JWP was that player for example. I'd rather take this approach than buy someone to ride the bench and then decide they're not good enough 12 months later.

Quality over quantity this window