Summer transfer window 2021

[CVByrne]

1 hour ago, WallisFrizz said:

Here is the quote from the Athletic article today:

Scratch Emiliano Buendia off the list, as he was signed initially from Norwich in June to play alongside Grealish, but throw both Leon Bailey and Danny Ings — who cost £55 million combined at the start of this month — into the mix as players signed on the back of the former captain’s record departure.

Would those latter two players be in claret and blue today if Grealish had decided to turn down the champions?

“Probably not,” admits Villa head coach Dean Smith. “We got early news that Jack might be going to Manchester City so we moved very quickly to make that loss less visible, if that’s at all possible.”

 

There was money to spend on 2 quality additions to the team one in Buendia and another attacking player, which we hoped would be Emile Smith Rowe. A switch to Bailey happened as we were losing our left sided player and needed another winger to replace. The important thing was that money was available to spend this summer regardless of Grealish. The player choices we ended up with were influenced by losing Grealish. Ings signing was only possible with Grealish money and as a proven Prem player could have an immediate impact.

We've bid for James Ward Prowse as Midfield is an area we need to improve now we can with Grealish money. 

The club know what they're doing. There are plans to continuously improve the squad year over year by targeting the areas needed.

[RicRic]

13 hours ago, TRO said:

Well Dortmund have a few playing, younger than ours....Moukoko 16, bellingham 18 Haarland 20.....its frightening.....now another 20 year old on....against Bayern too.

It just shows if your talented enough you can play especially when your given games against teams like Bayern

[El-Reacho]

1 hour ago, Delphinho123 said:

So they signed Buendia to play with Jack and then replaced Jack with Ings and Bailey. That is my takeaway from the quote. 

If this is the case, were the club only looking to sign Buendia then this Summer if Jack stayed? Really? No chance. The club must have been looking at Buendia and at least one more - a better central midfielder. They have to have been. 
If the board genuinely want to improve on our position last season, then they must realise that we don't have enough to do that - or at best, we may finish 9th/10th. 

NSWE are the best thing to happen to this club in a long time and if they want to take a year to consolidate after the Grealish exit then that's fine by me. They owe us nothing and we shouldn't be entitled enough to demand European football so soon after almost being declared bankrupt! I just hope they know the risks of not pushing on and trying to qualify for Europe this season  - the bigger teams cherry pick our players again. Baileys dad was quite clear when he signed that he'll move on if the club doesn't match his ambition of playing in Europe very soon. This is just one example. 

I'm 100% of the mindset that if we don't sign at least one central midfielder, we'll be scrambling around in midtable again this season. Smith might also be a little concerned because if the expectation is to improve on last years 11th place finish, he might be out of a job before the season is over. 

Let's see what happens in the next 2 weeks. 

From a business perspective there's a lot to be said for buying players who will be cherry picked by the top four. They are always replaceable. If Bailey does go to Chelsea or City in two year's time it will have proved that could replace Grealish, and we'll go and get the next Bailey in two summer's time and make a sizeable profit. Same with Buendia. I actually think this will be our business model in the league for the long term and it will get us standing on our own two feet. Hopefully getting regular Europa League football in the process.

[HKP90]

8 minutes ago, BOF said:

It depends how they want to spin the narrative, and I don't mean that in a negative way. Smith, (speaking days after Purslow's statement) said that Buendia was coming in regardless of the Grealish sale. He was brought in to play alongside him. By implication the others were not (i.e. Bailey & Ings). So from the original plan you could say we were willing to spend £34m of non-Jack money on Buendia and we've since spent £60m of the Jack money on the rest. Or, in light of the Grealish sale, they could just say the balance sheet is 100 in and 100 out so yeah we've spent it all.

But if they were willing to be £34m down while keeping Jack on the books then we've theoretically still got that £34m in the pocket ready to spend if needed.

Yeah but they can’t spin the narrative both ways. They either spent money but haven’t replaced Grealish, or replaced Grealish and not spent any money.

It seems to have been suggested that they have done both.

[Vive_La_Villa]

I reckon they are trying to sign more players but struggling with fees. 

[BOF]

Just now, HKP90 said:

Yeah but they can’t spin the narrative both ways. They either spent money but haven’t replaced Grealish, or replaced Grealish and not spent any money.

It seems to have been suggested that they have done both.

They've replaced him and spent some money, but not all of it. But it's not as strong as adding Buendia to a squad that includes him. The plan changed when he left, in that Buendia became part of the solution rather than part of the progression.  Losing your star player is a setback. You can only do your best to get over it. Let them try and recover from losing him.

[HKP90]

Just now, Vive_La_Villa said:

I reckon they are trying to sign more players but struggling with fees. 

Season has kicked off, people will want a premium to lose their best.

[The Fun Factory]

Everybody knows we are minted so are probably asking stupid fees and wages.

[Jas10]

There was a club interview with Purslow, before we had even sold or bought anyone IIRC, in which he said we were looking for 2 or 3 key additions.

So with JG still here, we were looking to genuinely upgrade a few positions rather than fill out the squad. Hopefully, midfield or DM was one of those areas… bids for JWP and interest in the likes of Sarr would confirm that. 

Obviously, much has changed since then but I think & hope we are very much still in the market. We’re working on further outgoings and for “the pieces to fall into place” on deals for new players. The last thing we want is to be ripped off.

The window doesn’t close until the end of the month… we all know how things heat up toward & on “deadline day”. I see no reason to believe that all of our business is done. Let’s just wait and see…

Personally, I am trying to be relaxed about this season. It’s quite a transition for us after having so heavily relied on a single player. I’d rather just sit back and enjoy the ride rather than get agitated and feel pressured about where we will finish… I trust in Dean and the owners, they clearly have the club’s best interests at heart and have genuine ambition.

Not saying there isn’t pressure from within the club but there needn’t be any from the outside… a bit of patience and understanding will go a long way and make the experience more enjoyable for us all…

Preseason has been a bit of a mess… our preparations haven’t been ideal… I expect us to do well once we get into our groove…

Let’s see what we can do and how the players will gel and perform together. I’m looking forward to watching a much more balanced team with threats from different areas… 

Many of them haven’t experienced the atmosphere and experience of being supported and cheered on by the fans and a packed VP. That will give them a huge boost.

A lot to look forward to, let’s not get too concerned or worked up or put too much pressure on the manager and players. It is a new era for us, let’s enjoy it…

[CVByrne]

34 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said:

Has Axel been brought in as defensive midfielder cover? 

No, to add competition for CB and as high quality cover.

Our issue with Central midfield is balance and quality. We've McGinn, Luiz, Nakamba, Sanson, Ramsey, then Chukwuemeka and Buendia to play there too. Not to mention Ings filling in as second striker with only 2 midfielders needed in starting line up for most home games I'd imagine.

So we're not light in that area. IT is just an area we need to improve by signing an improvement on Nakamba

[Jas10]

7 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I reckon they are trying to sign more players but struggling with fees. 

That sounds realistic, maybe not struggling though. It takes time to agree deals and we’re also looking to offload a few more players. Selling clubs will want to line up replacements too.

There is still time and we don’t need to overspend.

[CVByrne]

21 minutes ago, BOF said:

It depends how they want to spin the narrative, and I don't mean that in a negative way. Smith, (speaking days after Purslow's statement) said that Buendia was coming in regardless of the Grealish sale. He was brought in to play alongside him. By implication the others were not (i.e. Bailey & Ings). So from the original plan you could say we were willing to spend £34m of non-Jack money on Buendia and we've since spent £60m of the Jack money on the rest. Or, in light of the Grealish sale, they could just say the balance sheet is 100 in and 100 out so yeah we've spent it all.

But if they were willing to be £34m down while keeping Jack on the books then we've theoretically still got that £34m in the pocket ready to spend if needed.

Exactly, what interpretation of "spending the Grealish money" do people want. We've owners who are pumping money into the club so the actual money we received only has one benefit and that is in relation to FFP. People should take a look at the discussions we had on this in the FFP thread to get an understanding. 

[HKP90]

2 minutes ago, BOF said:

They've replaced him and spent some money, but not all of it. But it's not as strong as adding Buendia to a squad that includes him. The plan changed when he left, in that Buendia became part of the solution rather than part of the progression.  Losing your star player is a setback. You can only do your best to get over it. Let them try and recover from losing him.

I’m not sure what you mean. Purslow specifically said that these 3 players had been identified to fill the void of jack. 

The only player we bought over and above the 3 players mentioned is Ashley Young.

On this basis we have ‘recovered’ from losing jack, but have made otherwise no net investment in the playing squad. 
 

I’m not sure how anybody expects us to kick on this year, as we are no stronger, whilst our competitors have strengthened. 
Realistically we have to look at this year as consolidation. Mid table would be realistic based on investment.

[Jas10]

Going to bring his name up again…

Boubacar Kamara

There is a deal to be done there, would be a great capture for us…

But any quality DM would be a welcome addition. Doucoure sounds great, there are other options too.

Such a signing may well be completed by the end of the window, we’re looking at value more than anything imo and it takes time to get those kind of deals done…

[Made In Aston]

10 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

That sounds realistic, maybe not struggling though. It takes time to agree deals and we’re also looking to offload a few more players. Selling clubs will want to line up replacements too.

There is still time and we don’t need to overspend.

If we can shift Wesley, Hourihane, Nakamba and AEG then I reckon we will get 1 or 2 more in. 

[BOF]

2 minutes ago, HKP90 said:

I’m not sure what you mean. Purslow specifically said that these 3 players had been identified to fill the void of jack. 

The only player we bought over and above the 3 players mentioned is Ashley Young.

On this basis we have ‘recovered’ from losing jack, but have made otherwise no net investment in the playing squad.

Purslow didn't say 'these 3 players had been identified to fill the void'. The past tense there is key. Smith has explicitly said Buendia was coming in to play alongside Jack. So Buendia was not identified as a part-replacement for him. And that's the nuance you're missing. Buendia has become - after the event - part of the solution, because the plan changed. Where you are right is that on paper we have, in theory, recovered from losing Jack and have not necessarily progressed in the manner we would have done had he stayed.  But that's what I mean by "Losing your star player is a setback. You can only do your best to get over it. Let them try and recover from losing him."  Don't get hung up on trying to catch them out. They're trying to limit the damage here.

[hippo]

I think the big villa deals are done.

If Will Hughes can be picked up for £5-6m I really can see us going for that deal towards the end of the window.

[LondonLax]

If you include Sanson as a summer signing (who arrived a bit earlier than planned), our signings are:

1) a striker,

2) a winger,

3) an attacking midfielder,

4)a box to box midfielder,

5) a left back and, 

6) a right sided central defender. 

That’s a pretty impressive haul that ticks off almost all the positions we were calling for before the window opened. 

The only question would be if Nakamba would be replaced (seems unlikely to me) or if we would sign a backup keeper (probably not an urgent requirement). 

[Jas10]

23 minutes ago, Made In Aston said:

If we can shift Wesley, Hourihane, Nakamba and AEG then I reckon we will get 1 or 2 more in. 

Agreed, and I am kind of expecting that to happen. I think we will sign more players when we organise some outgoings… we don’t want want an overly bloated squad.

No objection to those kind of players leaving either. We need a higher calibre of player now…

A few more outgoing loans possibly too…

 

[VillanousOne]

I think the links if true we have had must mean something

JWP - was surely because we needed someone who could actually take set pieces and pull the strings in midfield, but we have a set piece coach and new players like Bailey and Buendia (plus Young) who you'd hope could take a decent set piece. So waxing the mooted 50 mil on him just seems a bit over the top, unless Saints are trying to find a replacement before selling.

If links to Doucoure and Sarr were real then it feels like we were looking for an upgrade on Nakamba, but who knows that could have been made up media guff also.