Summer Transfer Window 2023

[Tomaszk]

35 minutes ago, Wes said:

 

What do you think of him as a player Wes?

Technical quality is there, no doubt. Not sure he's the sort of absolute guaranteed PL performer (like Kamara was) we can afford to give a £30m contract.

Would be a very exciting signing.

Edited May 29, 2023 by Tomaszk

[RicRic]

6 hours ago, Jas10 said:

Sure, and I didn’t say anything along the lines of a player is crap or useless if they’ve been in a relegated team or at the lower end of the table. There may be one or two who I would welcome…

I’m just saying it’s best to broaden our horizons and there’s a lot of quality and value out there and you can stop wasting money on big fees and wages if you look beyond the PL. It is not the “be all and end all” and I sometimes wish fans would stop being so restrictive or limited in their mindset but it’s more important that those at the club have a lot more nous and intelligence than that - it’s why we and others invest so much time, effort and money into having a scouting network…

Unai proved this by signing Moreno who barely anyone had a clue about and he undoubtedly strengthened us… there’s too many other examples to list from teams who have had success and many examples from the past. In fact, some of the best teams of the past had success by bringing in top talent from abroad and not going for the regular or widely known local “names”…

I will never align myself with anyone who believes you have to or need to exclusively sign PL based players to do well or progress, imo it is total and complete BS (not aimed at you in particular btw). It’s something I have always felt quite strongly about.

But I don’t personally believe that any of the players you’ve just listed are even good enough to come into our team let alone elevate us and that is what we need, not squad filler. That’s the last thing we need, we need upgrades where we can get them - that’s how you become stronger and better and start competing for honours. Some players that are regularly playing for us will need to be relegated to the bench if we genuinely want to have major success…

Maybe we will just have to agree to disagree but I personally believe that this is a superb opportunity to genuinely enhance our team and provide Unai with superior tools to take us further and achieve great things… let’s take advantage of that and demonstrate our intent…

I believe we will… Unai has certainly earned it.

 

Yeah in agreeance here Jas, feel like you been missing for some time now… based on Emery’s signings at Arsenal they were mainly overseas Martinelli,Saliba, Guendouzi these are types of players we must look for, plenty talent abroad to choose from, not saying we cant sign one player from a relegated side but we dont need to make this frequent

[foreveryoung]

We need to stop getting a bit snobby already with transfers. For me, Harvey Barnes and/or Jack Harrison woukd be fantastic signings for our club.

[RicRic]

Have mu doubts with Asencio as big a name he is … wouldn’t cause a riot over signing him but very unsure if hes the player we need.

[Zhan_Zhuang]

Marco Asensio, better than Bailey I take it?

[Kiwivillan]

13 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

We need to stop getting a bit snobby already with transfers. For me, Harvey Barnes and/or Jack Harrison woukd be fantastic signings for our club.

From teams that conceded a lot of goals and their stats say said players are a lot worse off the ball than what we currently have. As if our management team don't heavily focus on stats when recruiting players. 

Edited May 29, 2023 by Kiwivillan

[KMitch]

6 hours ago, maqroll said:

As an American, I'm sorry to say that we should be looking at a higher calibre player than these two. And you can add McKennie to that. All not good enough for where we want to be.

THANK YOU!!!  Championship trash all of them.  McKennie used to be quality before he got his big contract at Juve, now he doesn't care about football anymore.

-Sincerely, Another American 

 

6 hours ago, srsmithusa said:

as an american, I would love us to have at least one american on our roster.  McKennie might be the best option toward that goal.  Who would you think is the closest?  We probably have a keeper that could serve as backup to Martinez.

Pulisic & Reyna are the only Champions League quality players we have.  Maybe Balogun turns out to be something special too, but we'll have to see if he can score in England now, not just the French league.

[Dillon66]

1 hour ago, Wes said:

 

Probably asking Unai if the coffee machine at the PSG training ground was cash or card.....

[Jas10]

15 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

We need to stop getting a bit snobby already with transfers. For me, Harvey Barnes and/or Jack Harrison woukd be fantastic signings for our club.

I don’t think it’s snobby at all but I’m aware that many of us will have a difference of opinion on this sort of subject and are entitled to.

I think it would be fairer to say ambitious rather than snobby, nothing wrong with setting our sights high or wide - it’s how we become a much better and more formidable side. Again, what’s the point in having a scouting system/network and a manager with so much experience and knowledge if we’re just going to sign players from within the same league? Especially relegated ones? 

If he wants the best players we can entice from La Liga (and other leagues), let’s allow him to… the man’s competed in European competition for 16 years in a row now, he’s seen a lot of players! Not just PL/British ones…

Considering where we are aiming or heading… would similar teams (or those we would be competing against) even be interested in those players?

For me, it’s just that we risk holding ourselves back (and wasting funds) if we target players like that and how much are we really going to progress if that’s the sort of approach we take? I don’t want us to sign many players that are no better than what we have… 

I would find it disappointing and underwhelming but, again, whoever Unai truly wants (not anyone else at the club, including Lange) Unai should get. What he says should go.

I hope we get his top targets in and aren’t looking at, I dunno, options C, D etc. in those positions.

I’m feeling positive and optimistic anyway. None of us hve a clue at all really it’s just fun and exciting to speculate and theorise and to share opinions… it means very little in the end

Whatever happens, we can rest easy in the knowledge that Unai will have them firing and we are going to be a real force!

[Jas10]

Flipping hell… Unai has only been able to bring in one of his “own” players/signings in Moreno (believe Duran was a Lange target that was approved)… it’s bloody exciting to imagine who else he will be integrating and how they will impact and elevate/enhance our team…

He’s done incredibly well with the players he has inherited and had at his disposal but what can he do with some high quality additions? 

So exciting…

[KMitch]

22 minutes ago, RicRic said:

Have mu doubts with Asencio as big a name he is … wouldn’t cause a riot over signing him but very unsure if hes the player we need.

If I might ask why?  He's been Madrid's super sub/rotational ace for the past 3 seasons and always impacts the game for them.  He is leaving Madrid because he is in his prime and wants to start more games, but they have younger more promising attacking talents in their roster.  He doesn't have elite pace, but he is an extremely intelligent technical player who regularly scores bangers for Madrid like Hourihane did for us in the Championship.  He's the kind of player who we were crying out for in many games this season when Bailey and Buendia weren't playing well.  

[KMitch]

29 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

We need to stop getting a bit snobby already with transfers. For me, Harvey Barnes and/or Jack Harrison woukd be fantastic signings for our club.

If Emery wants them, I'll back them to do well for us, but I have a feeling we'll be shopping in a different market than the relegation clearance bin.  

[GingerCollins29]

If Unai wants to sign Asensio, Barnes, Harrison, Ade Akinfenwa, Mr Blobby, Roy Cropper, Dave from the Lower Holte or whoever, then i'm all for it. The guy is an absolute genius and will have a plan for every new signing to make us stronger. Cannot wait to see what he does and I truat him 100%

[Keyblade]

Not wanting to sign Jack Harrison isn't being snobby. He's not good enough for where we are now. Leeds are just about his level.

[Wes]

14 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

What do you think of him as a player Wes?

Technical quality is there, no doubt. Not sure he's the sort of absolute guaranteed PL performer (like Kamara was) we can afford to give a £30m contract.

Would be a very exciting signing.

If he does come, he's coming to increase the number of goals we score. That's his best attribute, his shot. Technically very very good, favours his left foot a fair bit.
For me, he's not a winger. He's a 10 or a forward. Don't expect him to take on a player one on one and win via physical ability. He is much better at progressing the ball through technical craft, but he is good with the ball at his feet.

He's very good retaining the ball and moving it around with a neat pass - got to think Emery likes the sound of this a lot.

He's had some difficulties to deal with before, be it nailing down a consistent position in the Madrid team or coming back from a really bad ACL injury. He now progresses the ball better with his vision and weight of pass than by beating a player. I have some questions about how "involved" he would get in the defensive phases of play.

As much as Villa are a project, so is Asensio. Got to believe that's what Emery sees too. A lump of clay, with some magic about it, that Emery can mold in to his system that he wants to play. Similarly, from all reports, Asensio could benefit from going to a place where he is going to be given a chance to be a main attraction rather than just another star in a team of many (which Madrid is). I think he needs that kind of devotion and focus, being taken under the wing of someone respected, to get the best out of him now.

For us, I would expect him to play the right sided forward alongside Watkins, but would typically drop deeper more regularly and wider too to link up play.

 

He would immediately go in to our starting line-up for sure. You add all the other recruitment analysis stuff on top like he would be on a free, all his CL experience and so on, there's not a lot to dislike here.

[IrishVilla10]

4 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Or a couple days of Dignes

The crypto currency of VT, Digne pounds 

[VillaChris]

18 minutes ago, Keyblade said:

Not wanting to sign Jack Harrison isn't being snobby. He's not good enough for where we are now. Leeds are just about his level.

I don't really get why we keep getting linked to him. Pretty sure his name kept popping up last summer aswell.

He's more an Everton or Forest signing. Looked good at Leeds under Bielsa like most of them but very average form since.

[Tomaszk]

42 minutes ago, Wes said:

As much as Villa are a project, so is Asensio. Got to believe that's what Emery sees too. A lump of clay, with some magic about it, that Emery can mold in to his system that he wants to play. 

I agree with this...and that's what makes me unsure. Again, not unsure of his overall quality, just unsure that he's a guy we can give a huge contract to. We have to get our big contracts right.

Kamara was good enough three years before we signed him. He had all the tools to be a PL success at 19. I'm concerned Asensio could be a Liverpool Torres or a Liverpool Morientes - if we were to fall the wrong side of that it's an absolute killer.

Full trust with Unai of course Playing within our structure is probably very accommodating for players.

Do your bit, do what you're told, enjoy the success.

[Kiwivillan]

Asensio's father is Basque hmm

[Thug]

4 hours ago, Jas10 said:

I don’t think it’s snobby at all but I’m aware that many of us will have a difference of opinion on this sort of subject and are entitled to.

I think it would be fairer to say ambitious rather than snobby, nothing wrong with setting our sights high or wide - it’s how we become a much better and more formidable side. Again, what’s the point in having a scouting system/network and a manager with so much experience and knowledge if we’re just going to sign players from within the same league? Especially relegated ones? 

If he wants the best players we can entice from La Liga (and other leagues), let’s allow him to… the man’s competed in European competition for 16 years in a row now, he’s seen a lot of players! Not just PL/British ones…

Considering where we are aiming or heading… would similar teams (or those we would be competing against) even be interested in those players?

For me, it’s just that we risk holding ourselves back (and wasting funds) if we target players like that and how much are we really going to progress if that’s the sort of approach we take? I don’t want us to sign many players that are no better than what we have… 

I would find it disappointing and underwhelming but, again, whoever Unai truly wants (not anyone else at the club, including Lange) Unai should get. What he says should go.

I hope we get his top targets in and aren’t looking at, I dunno, options C, D etc. in those positions.

I’m feeling positive and optimistic anyway. None of us hve a clue at all really it’s just fun and exciting to speculate and theorise and to share opinions… it means very little in the end

Whatever happens, we can rest easy in the knowledge that Unai will have them firing and we are going to be a real force!

I understand your sentiment, but you kind of contradict yourself here.

What if Emery wants Harvey Barnes?  Then what?  Is he good enough then?

IF we buy Barnes, it’ll be with Emery’s blessing, at the price we pay, for the contract we offer, after considering alternative options available at different prices and contract demands.

And on a side note: Chelsea spent £88m on a player from ‘far and wide’. We spent £30m on a winger from ‘far and wide’.  Barnes has more goals and tackles than the two of them combined.

He has the same number of premier league goals as £80m Núñez and £47m Díaz of liverpool combined.

He has more goal contributions than title winning £100m Jack Grealish.

 

Just hold that thought for a minute.  And tell me you’re NOT being snobbish.