January Transfer Window - 2023

[Hank Scorpio]

2 minutes ago, MrBlack said:

Check out my post in their off topic.  They're costing themselves over £150m a year in regards to FFP from their signings just this season. 

But they will be allowed to get away with it.

[useless]

We were never going to finish above Chelsea or Liverpool, they won't be as bad second half of the season, so would be silly to buy recklessly chasing that forlon hope.

Edited February 1, 2023 by useless

[thabucks]

Speaking of free transfers … remember the hype around this guy … https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/diego-rolan/profil/spieler/193938

What an illustrious career he want on to have. 

[paul514]

20 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Well Chelsea have spent £500m in less than a.year.

Remind me why are we bothering to comply to ffp again?

More than 600m 

We are bothering to comply because Chelsea are also complying to the rules.

[MrBlack]

9 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

But they will be allowed to get away with it.

They make around 450m in revenue each season. So assuming they keep that up,  they'll be fine.

Throw in current salaries and existing player amortisation prior to this season (finger in the air) I reckon that they lose another 150m a year on top of the 150m they've added this season.

Still leaves them lots of wiggle room (150m profit to play with for other costs), and assuming they keep selling a few academy products for 30m every season. They'll maintain that level of revenue. If they don't make champs league this year they will have to sell a few more. 

They made 3 under 20 signings that cost them virtually nothing from amortisation,  and when sold will no doubt net them 30m each. They've got a business model and looks like it will keep working.

[DaveAV1]

51 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Why sell Ings if we didn't have anyone lined up? Don't fancy depending on Watkins for the rest of the season. Guess we are happy with a midtable finish.......again.

In the context of where we were in October comfortable mid table isn’t so terrible. We were very much in a relegation battle and would have been delighted to end up easily mid table and looking upwards. The mistakes were made over the 11 month period before the current manager, and much longer, they are now being put right but there’s no magic wand.  

[nick76]

Disappointing window all up.

Pros

• Trimmed the deadwood for the first time in ages 
• Bought a left-back that Emery wants
• Buying a young future prospect in Duran
• Kept players like Kamara and Martinez although there was no worry this month

Cons

• Selling Ings with no replacement 
• Leaving the new kid Duran as back up to Ollie whose raw, untested and untried at this level and quality even when our manager said he didn’t want Duran in that position
• Didnt bring in the forward/winger that we have been crying out for
• if Emery did want Guendouzi, then club failed getting Emery’s first major transfer
• Leaving Emery with very few options of quality outside the core
• Weaker squad than the beginning of the window.
• Not upgrading the first eleven really of any note aside from left back which wasn’t a priority anyway
• Small squad exposing us to injuries, form, bookings and options in the second half of the season in our push for a top ten place or higher, which will benefit us for attraction of players in the summer.
• Based on Emery’s press conferences of needs and him being demanding in Lange’s office daily, it will leave Emery very frustrated this morning.

Probably missed some on both sides of the pros and cons list but it’s enough!

 

 

Overall 5 out of 10 window,

Based on getting fringe players out and no panics buys, offset by selling Ings being sold with no replacement and failure to bring in quality options for Emery and an opportunity to strengthen the squad in a season where there is an opportunity to finish higher in the league whether 7th, 8th or 9th with Chelsea and Liverpool on a wobble and teams like Fulham, Brentford and Brighton that we should be able to compete with.

I know some won’t agree with me, I don’t care and I’m not debating anymore because the window is over, so I’m going back to focusing on the games and other threads.  

Now I just have to hope all players stay fit, bookings are kept under control and we have massive luck with injuries and form.  We have a brilliant coach, so I wish him all the luck and use his brilliance for the next 18 games. C’mon Villa!

 

Disappointing window!

[Zatman]

5 hours ago, thabucks said:

Speaking of free transfers … remember the hype around this guy … https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/diego-rolan/profil/spieler/193938

What an illustrious career he want on to have. 

Shocked he never had a stint at Watford

[Villarocker]

I hope that someone at the club gives some kind of explanation as to this transfer window business. What the general aim was in regards to dealings. I think it would be helpful. 

A lot of us have spoken about "deadwood" leaving but, in reality, how many of our unused players have actually left the club? Two loanees have gone back to their parent clubs. Guilbert was released. But, the rest are only loans. I'm not including Ings in that group as he's been used a lot this season - however, I can sort of see why they took the money and eased the wage bill there. 

The squad should be enough for the games we have left. I'm not actually that bothered about European football right now as we simply don't have the quality or depth to be playing those extra games. 

I think the positives will be:

Watkins in the number one striker so now needs to show if he's up to it. 

Bailey has serious pressure for his place with Traore returning - when he's fit. 

Traore gets a fresh start with a proper coach. 

The rest will all be about showing who Unai sees as good enough for starting places and who he can rely on to back them up. 

I'm fine our window as long as we don't suddenly do a Villa and go into a free fall looking like headless chickens. But, in the summer, I'm expecting two new attacking players, one of which needs to be a proven goalscorer. I also would like to see a new number two 'keeper and maybe another creative midfielder as Buendia and Coutinho simply just don't create enough. 

In Unai we trust! 

[zab6359]

50/50 window for me, not the best but not terrible a much needed trim of the squad and some good loan moves particularly AJ and Archer. 
 

If clubs aren’t willing to sell during the January window there isn’t a lot we can do about it. 
 

Bertie will slot right back in as cover across the front to replace Ings until the end of the season I’m happy with that he should have never gone out on loan anyway.

[Demitri_C]

Id say this is probably one of the worst transfer windows we have had.

Got rid of host of players and didnt replace them.

Having on recognised striker fir me is a huge gamble. As long as emery is backed massively in summer then its fine. But if not we do need to start asking questions

[Delphinho123]

5 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Id say this is probably one of the worst transfer windows we have had.

Got rid of host of players and didnt replace them.

Having on recognised striker fir me is a huge gamble. As long as emery is backed massively in summer then its fine. But if not we do need to start asking questions

Couldn’t disagree more. Our first XI has been strengthened and we’ve set ourselves up for more success in the Summer window. 

9/10 for me. I kinda wanted Guendouzi is all but we’ll just go and get him in the Summer instead. 

[Demitri_C]

9 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

Couldn’t disagree more. Our first XI has been strengthened and we’ve set ourselves up for more success in the Summer window. 

9/10 for me. I kinda wanted Guendouzi is all but we’ll just go and get him in the Summer instead. 

So what happens if watkins picks up a major injury? We have bailey and traore who are not out and out strikers. Who knows if duran is ready or will be in the 1st team?

We look light in midfield i feel too.

A few injuries and you will change your tune.

Only area thats been strengthed is left back dont see how we are better off this window

Not sure how you can rate the window 9/10 mate when we only signed two players!

Edited February 1, 2023 by Demitri_C

[VillaParkAvenue]

I'd like to know what Emery thinks of the window.

It's possible he's fine with it and believes we should concentrate more on the summer. It's also possible he's disappointed and feels the club should have done more to get his targets.

[DCJonah]

I'd have liked more players but I'm glad we haven't signed people for the sake of it, and the club have given me no reason to doubt them, so I think it's daft to criticise lack of business as though we've done things wrong. 

We've shifted a lot of deadwood and whilst keeping Ings makes the squad stronger, financially it made perfect sense to move him on. 

I think Moreno looks good. He offers us an option at LB or potentially LM with Digne behind him. 

Very excited about the potential of Duran. I think that signing has massively gone under the radar or not been aprreciated because we've sold Ings.

We've set ourselves up the summer, which I'm expecting to be a big window for Emery. 

 

 

[villarule123]

I'm not that arsed about the lack of signings this window, I'd written this season off a long time ago and anything more than a mid table finish would be a massive bonus. 

As long as us missing out on certain targets is Emery's decision, then I'm happy. If it wasn't, and he's now pissed off which could lead to problems down the line, then that would be very problematic as if it ended up with him somehow walking, we'd never be able to attract a high quality manager again. 

[Kbdrum88]

Not a bad window in some respects. Instead of not getting backed I'd like to think now emery has a bulk of the Control it was mote of pragmatic approach/decision to keep what we have. Rather than add fillers and 1/2 season fixes we'll then be looking to sell he's kept the money wages to add longterm for the project in the summer. In regards to the striker, maybe he's seen enough in jhon to think ill actually be more confident with him as back up then expected. The only problem I really see is one bad injury to Watkins and jhons confidence getting knocked who do we play to lead the line bertie, Bailey or maybe give Ramsey a go further up as he knows where the net is. Or god forbid martinez gets injured are we mathematically safe enough for the points olsen will cost us?? But in emery we trust  

Edited February 1, 2023 by Kbdrum88

[Delphinho123]

14 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

So what happens if watkins picks up a major injury? We have bailey and traore who are not out and out strikers. Who knows if duran is ready or will be in the 1st team?

We look light in midfield i feel too.

A few injuries and you will change your tune.

Only area thats been strengthed is left back dont see how we are better off this window

Not sure how you can rate the window 9/10 mate when we only signed two players!

Chelsea and maybe Bournemouth (?) aside, I don’t know of many other teams that bought that many more players than us. 

It was time to trim the squad and we’ll trim the squad even further in the Summer, replacing the players that leave with actual big budget quality. 

So what if Watkins gets injured. I imagine Ings would only have got injured himself at some point anyway. Also, he’s immobile and apart from the odd appearance of the bench, barely features.

Sanson and Nakamba aren’t up to it and weren’t needed. 

Like I say, Id have got rid of a few more if I could. This squad hasn’t managed to finish in the top half or win a trophy over the last couple of years. Time to let go of a few and bring in players that might help us actually achieve something. 

[Villarocker]

This is interesting, if accurate. 

Maybe Unai wanted to keep his powder dry for a big summer spend on better targets? 

I can see us signing 3-4 new first teamers in the summer. Out of what we currently have I'd say that a right back, creative midfielder and a proven goalscorer could be three positions to improve on. We then need a new no.2 keeper. Maybe a better CB than Chambers for cover?

[El Segundo]

1 hour ago, nick76 said:

 

Disappointing window all up.

Pros

• Trimmed the deadwood for the first time in ages 
• Bought a left-back that Emery wants
• Buying a young future prospect in Duran
• Kept players like Kamara and Martinez although there was no worry this month

Cons

• Selling Ings with no replacement 
• Leaving the new kid Duran as back up to Ollie whose raw, untested and untried at this level and quality even when our manager said he didn’t want Duran in that position
• Didnt bring in the forward/winger that we have been crying out for
• if Emery did want Guendouzi, then club failed getting Emery’s first major transfer
• Leaving Emery with very few options of quality outside the core
• Weaker squad than the beginning of the window.
• Not upgrading the first eleven really of any note aside from left back which wasn’t a priority anyway
• Small squad exposing us to injuries, form, bookings and options in the second half of the season in our push for a top ten place or higher, which will benefit us for attraction of players in the summer.
• Based on Emery’s press conferences of needs and him being demanding in Lange’s office daily, it will leave Emery very frustrated this morning.

Probably missed some on both sides of the pros and cons list but it’s enough!

 

 

Overall 5 out of 10 window,

Based on getting fringe players out and no panics buys, offset by selling Ings being sold with no replacement and failure to bring in quality options for Emery and an opportunity to strengthen the squad in a season where there is an opportunity to finish higher in the league whether 7th, 8th or 9th with Chelsea and Liverpool on a wobble and teams like Fulham, Brentford and Brighton that we should be able to compete with.

I know some won’t agree with me, I don’t care and I’m not debating anymore because the window is over, so I’m going back to focusing on the games and other threads.  

Now I just have to hope all players stay fit, bookings are kept under control and we have massive luck with injuries and form.  We have a brilliant coach, so I wish him all the luck and use his brilliance for the next 18 games. C’mon Villa!

 

Disappointing window!

Great summary.  I would just add Bert coming back from loan I see as another pro,  not using the loan market to at least provides some squad depth when we failed to get our main targets I think is a Con.  I think possibly an (unexpected) opportunity missed to really build on what Emery has shown we are capable of so far and push towards the top.  Might still do it if we get lucky with injuries and suspensions.