Summer Transfer Window 2023

[nick76]

6 minutes ago, Jareth said:

Yes to Torres the 2nd.

Give him a chance mate…Pau only got married less than two weeks ago so ‘Pau Torres II’ is about 17 years away from first team football assuming they have a son

Edited July 6, 2023 by nick76

[CarryOnVilla]

28 minutes ago, supermon said:

Yes please

Purple Bricks is such an outside ITK, it has to be true 

[lexicon]

8 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Because he’s not that great and before you quote stats, so did El Ghazi but I’ve watched F.Torres enough to not be impressed, so no thanks.

Torres would be a serious coup for us - far better than anyone else linked like Johnson, Barnes, Gnonto etc. 

[Jareth]

1 minute ago, CarryOnVilla said:

Purple Bricks is such an outside ITK, it has to be true 

They announced Hause first

[CarryOnVilla]

1 minute ago, Jareth said:

They announced Hause first

[jim]

5 minutes ago, Jareth said:

They announced Hause first

[villa89]

28 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I assume a loan to buy deal would work better for our FFP?

Loan with option to buy is the best type of deal assuming the price is agreed in advance. That way you can have him for a year and if it doesn't work out you can send him back. 

[Lerner's Driver]

6 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

Purple Bricks is such an outside ITK, it has to be true 

Ssshhh! Please don't say things like that out loud, you will just attract the attention of the transfer police. There's one really zealous bod doing the rounds atm, who will come down on you like a tonne of bricks if you start showing the slightest bit of interest in a transfer rumour that he has not deemed true.

[chrisvilla4]

15 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

Purple Bricks is such an outside ITK, it has to be true 

Not a concrete link

[El-Reacho]

2 hours ago, CarryOnVilla said:

Cameron archer is pretty cheap.. done wonders in the championship and his goal to minute ratio for the England  under 21s is awesome. 

I think he’s the perfect back up striker. 

Think Archer’s still a season away from being Watkins’ deputy I reckon. If he did have to step up and lead the line for 8-10 weeks in the PL it would be a huge gamble. I think we’ll spend big on a player to take the burden off Watkins with Archer playing cups and Euro Conf. If we get to the business end of the Europa Conference or the cups then Emery will be using Watkins in those games too so he’ll will want a proven deputy to take the pressure off him.

[nick76]

38 minutes ago, lexicon said:

Torres would be a serious coup for us

Guess we’ll have to disagree on this.

[Jas10]

1 hour ago, villa4europe said:

I want someone where the answer is so blindingly obviously that no one ever asks that question

Exactly the kind of “strategy” I would like to see and think we need… bring in better.

Again, I think it’s about making the most of our opportunities. We can really disrupt that “upper echelon” of the league if we add some genuine quality and goal threat…

We’re in such a great position to take that next step or two…

[allani]

1 hour ago, CarryOnVilla said:

So like last season you want him as 3rd option.. just to keep his confidence good. Well, that didn’t work out well for him or his development. 6 months wasted doing nothing but keeping a car seat warm. 

It’s about time we give him more minutes. The risk of ollie getting a long term injury is there, but we shouldn’t be so risk averse just in case the worse happens. that way of thinking will always kill our youth set up at the last hurdle. If the boy has proven himself at every level but the Prem, then he needs a fair chance to have ago at this level.

We do need wide attackers, but I’m not so fussed if they can play CF or not, as we got a decent prospect in Archer.

Overall, I’m not particularly afraid of this risk. Ollie is generally rebust and doesn’t injure easy and Archer has proven himself to be given a go at some premier league football.

I can't quite figure out how you have decided that the "summary" above bears any resemblence to anything that I have said.

Playing Archer up front supported by Buendia and Bailey (for example) is a pretty high risk strategy for a club wanting to compete in the top 7.  I can't believe that is even up for debate.  Playing Ollie, Bailey and Archer is better but still risky (and means playing one or more of them out of position).  But if our front three was say Ollie, Chiesa and Dybala (or players of that ilk) all of whom would be expecting to get close to / past double figures - then for me that gives us far more licence to play Archer on a regular basis.  Chiesa, Archer and Dybala still sounds pretty threatening and means that Archer isn't under immediate pressure as our only serious goal threat.

Ollie scored more than twice as many goals as any other player for us last season - so taking him off massively reduces our goal threat and so is immediately a risky call.  We saw that exact thing last season when Ollie was on the pitch several times when he was clearly done in but we couldn't afford the risk of throwing Duran on for 30 minutes.  With the way that Ollie plays and us (hopefully) having more matches this season - the threat is less about injury and more just tiredness (we need to be able to take Ollie off more often so that he can stay fresher). 

The same would go for Tim in midfield.  If our "controlling" CM trio is Luiz, McGinn and Nakamba (from the season before last) - it is high risk to put Tim in there.  But when we have Kamara, Luiz, Tielemans and (Unai's) McGinn there (I'm assuming that Ramsey will be playing a more "free" role) - it is much easier (and safer) to give him minutes because he'll be playing with better players when we have better control of the match.

Buying better quality improves the opportunities for giving our younger prospects more game time not less.  I'm not suggesting we buy 25 international stars so we have 2 brilliant players in every position and block any chance of youngsters coming through.  Man City (for all their faults) have been able to blood some of their youngsters because they are in control of matches and so those players can gain experience with little / no pressure on them.  Throwing on the likes of Tim because Kamara gets injured when we are 2-0 down and the midfield is being over-run helps no-one in the short term.  Bring him on when we are 2-0 up and cruising helps him get a better feel for PL football, gives him confidence to play his normal game, allows him the luxury of making a mistake and it not being too costly.  If he does well in those games then he starts to become more of an option when the score is 0-0 and we feel we need to change something.  Same for Archer.  Let's give him proper support first so that if he goes 3 or 4 games without scoring it is unlikely to make much difference.  That way if he does come in and start scoring straight away then at worst it gives Emery a massive selection headache.

Expecting Archer to be our second striker next season with our current squad and for him to score 10 goals is (I think) wildly optimistic.  Bring in more attacking support so that we have a more balanced goal threat, I think means we are much better positioned to give him shot and give him time if he doesn't hit the ground running.  Had Bailey and Buendia both been up closer to 10 or 11 goals this season then I am sure that Duran would have got more minutes than he did.

Bringing Archer back to Villa and not playing him because we're worried about where our goals will come from if Ollie is not on the pitch would be a complete waste of time. 

[Leeroy]

1 hour ago, Wezbid said:

Torres (F) can play wide and through the middle if needed. Contributes goals and assists. I don't understand the people against signing him. 

As for Rodrigo, Emery is big on character and attitude. I can't see him bringing someone in who could potentially disrupt our strong team spirit and togetherness. 

He'd automatically be one of our best players if he came here. Far more exciting than signing Johnson or Barnes.

 

Nothing like the Coutinho signing as Torres has his best years in front of him.

[Tomaszk]

1 hour ago, Wezbid said:

Torres (F) can play wide and through the middle if needed. Contributes goals and assists. I don't understand the people against signing him. 

Not against signing him.

Just don't pay Barca £35m for a player they don't want and have given a stupid contract to.

[allani]

27 minutes ago, El-Reacho said:

Think Archer’s still a season away from being Watkins’ deputy I reckon. If he did have to step up and lead the line for 8-10 weeks in the PL it would be a huge gamble. I think we’ll spend big on a player to take the burden off Watkins with Archer playing cups and Euro Conf. If we get to the business end of the Europa Conference or the cups then Emery will be using Watkins in those games too so he’ll will want a proven deputy to take the pressure off him.

And that player doesn't need to be an out and out CF (thus avoiding the gold plated striker sat on the bench or having Archer or Duran doing nothing but warm a seat on the bench scenarios raised).  An AM / CF hybrid or a CF / AM hybrid depending on how you want to phrase it would do the job.  It means that Archer can come on as a sub for Ollie and know that the pressure to score isn't all on him.  AND it means that if Ollie is injured for 8 or 10 weeks then Unai can decide whether to juggle things and have "The Hybrid" (as I will now nickname him) lead the line or to play Archer or a bit of both.  Signing "The Hybrid" gives Archer the best chance of playing for us next season and of scoring goals for us next season.  He absolutely isn't a blockage to bringing young prospects through.  If we sign this player and Unai then decides that Archer needs another year out on loan at a top of the Championship / bottom of the PL then so be it - that is also a strategy that could really help Archer develop.

Edited July 6, 2023 by allani

[lexicon]

16 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Guess we’ll have to disagree on this.

How would he not be? 

[nick76]

1 hour ago, villa4europe said:

3 times in nearly 15 years...

As a squad player he'd be ok I suppose but it's a position that's key to us now, I don't want to sign someone who sparks a "is he better than Buendia?" conversation I want someone where the answer is so blindingly obviously yes no ever asks that question

Same for F.Torres and Bailey….”is he better than Bailey?” I want someone where the answer is so blindingly obviously yes no ever asks that question and F.Torres isn’t that

Edited July 6, 2023 by nick76

[PieFacE]

Just now, nick76 said:

Same for F.Torres and Bailey….”is he better than Buendia?” I want someone where the answer is so blindingly obviously yes no ever asks that question and F.Torres isn’t that

Not sure we attract whoever that player is. 

[nick76]

Just now, lexicon said:

How would he not be? 

I’ve watched him and he’s very underwhelming, never been impressed with him.