david-avfc Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 (edited) I liked Smith Rowe a few years ago but he’s barely played for 2 years, a combination of being injured and out of favour. It’s a hard situation to read, a move could reignite his career or it could be that he was just a flash in a pan and he’s already on a downwards trajectory. I’m not sure we’re in a position where we need to or would want to take the risk. Edited January 15 by david-avfc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Townsend Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 8 minutes ago, david-avfc said: I liked Smith Rowe a few years ago but he’s barely played for 2 years, a combination of being injured and out of favour. It’s a hard situation to read, a move could reignite his career or it could be that he was just a flash in a pan and he’s already on a downwards trajectory. I’m not sure we’re in a position where we need to or would want to take the risk. And of course one of his last good games was against us a few weeks before Dean Smith was sacked in 2p21! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Why help Arsenal out? And sign a player who really isn’t better than the ones we have, has been underperforming, would be expensive in both wages and fee and has had troubles with injuries, form, mentality/confidence… Now that we’re actually competing with or trying to rival these sorts of clubs… should we really be going for players that they don’t value or can’t get in their teams? The Martinez example is usually thrown out but it’s a completely different scenario… first of all, we had been battling relegation or just trying to gain a respectable position or standing in the league… Emi was one of the stars of lockdown, he was playing and excelling for Arsenal. One of the best performing players in the PL, he was shining. He was a huge part in their form and success, leading them to two trophies - Charity Shield and FA Cup. He deserved more respect and assurance but, when Leno returned from injury, Arteta and co messed up and preferred or prioritised Leno over Emi… and neither keeper remained at the club for long… we expertly exploited that situation, identifying a top player, giving him assurances and striking a bargain deal for him… and what a signing it has been! ESR… has done nothing of the sort. Maybe he would’ve been a decent signing a few years ago but… but he wouldn’t have been interested then… our trajectory has overtaken his and he has declined… of course, he could improve with a move elsewhere but… we don’t really need to target players like that or take those kinds of risks or even burdens on… look where we are… - Anyway, I’d be very surprised if we were targeting players like this who don’t present much value and by signing, we would be helping an opposition club out… particularly not under Monchi and co… If we really are signing Nedeljkovic… that’s just further evidence of our strategy and scouting methods… Again, for the first team, I think we’ll continue pursuing players like Pau and Diaby… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 I'd take Smith-Rowe for the right price. He'd be great for squad depth and has youth on his side. Also, Emery might reignite his form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke313 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Cheeky bid for Morgan Gibbs-White? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 2 minutes ago, maqroll said: I'd take Smith-Rowe for the right price. He'd be great for squad depth and has youth on his side. Also, Emery might reignite his form. I’d buy him for the right price, direct competition for Buendia but favouring the left side of the pitch - which wouldn’t hurt. Thing is Arsenal wouldn’t sell to us for the right price, so he’ll like end up at West Ham - and do brilliantly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philosopher Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 1 hour ago, duke313 said: Hypothetically, yes or no? West Ham have basically done this by selling Rice and buying Kudus, Alvarez and JWP and look the better team for it. No. Merino went to Newcastle and couldn't settle so ran off back to Spain. The reason Arsenal, Liverpool, and Barca are being linked to Luiz is because of the quality he has, and the level he is at. I don’t see Barca trying to sign Merino! If he could replace Luiz then wouldn't he be on all threes I just mentioned shortlist!? He is cheaper after all. Nico Williams is a very similar player to Bailey and Diaby, so how much would he really add. Frimpong is playing right wing, not fullback or even wingback. Defensively he is poor in one on one situations, so I am not convinced. Also remember what happened when Tottenham sold Bale, or when we sold Grealish. All 3 players we signed combined haven't returned Grealish numbers in term of goals, assists and many other metrics. One flopped, one has finally come good, and the other has been up and down and is out for the season. The fact is Grealish is still better than any of our current creative players. We would be stronger with him, rather then have 3 players that replaced him. This would be a huge gamble. Then on top of that Williams has already turned us down. Merino probably doesn't want to leave Spain, and Frimpong will have many established champions league teams after. We would struggle to bring just one of those players through the door. Then you have the West Ham example of it working. But people forget the season before last West Ham finished 6th and performed better than they are this season. It can easily be argued that their current improvement is them coming to terms with European competition, and now having more depth, rather than more quality in the first team. In addition West Ham's Best midfielder after Rice was Soucek. We have Kamara, Tielemens, and McGinn in order improve in midfield we would need a player better than Luiz. How many midfielders can you name that are better than Luiz? Then ask if we can afford any of those players? Now ask would they come to Villa? The answer to both latter questions are a resounding no! We need 50 million plus players to improve or first team now. Transfers are a gamble 1 in 2 transfers fail. Add to that it requires more than a good signing to replace Luiz. It needs a fantastic signing. Fact is no team elevates themselves to a top club in the world by selling their best players. It simply doesn't happen. Every club that has come from nowhere to the top have done it like Chelsea and Citeh. By out spending everyone else on fees and wages. The prem isn't Germany or Spain where a smaller club can get champions league by virtue of being the best of the rest. We have 6 or 7 teams at the top compared to Germany, which has only Bayern and to a lesser extent Dortmund and Leipzig. Or Spain who has Real and Barca and then to a lesser extent Athletico. Napoli were a smaller Serie A club until they signed and kept Maradonna, and his presence lives with them to this day as he made them a top team. Keeping your best players and building on that is the proven method to ascension not selling them to by 2 or 3 slightly lesser ones. You only sell your best players when they (the player) are near the end of their peak and the club need to build a new first eleven, because the current one is becoming to old to compete consistently. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thabucks Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 2 hours ago, duke313 said: Hypothetically, yes or no? West Ham have basically done this by selling Rice and buying Kudus, Alvarez and JWP and look the better team for it. Yes … Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 1 minute ago, Philosopher said: Frimpong is playing right wing, not fullback or even wingback. Defensively he is poor in one on one situations, so I am not convinced. This doesn't get posted enough when people say sign him to play RB 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thabucks Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 1 hour ago, Jas10 said: Why help Arsenal out? And sign a player who really isn’t better than the ones we have, has been underperforming, would be expensive in both wages and fee and has had troubles with injuries, form, mentality/confidence… If we don’t someone else will … He’s better than Buendia IMO, is young & English and Emery gave him his debut so knows all about him, his attributes and ceiling. At the right price yes pleas and the fact he hasn’t played a huge amount - more down to be not being picked as much as injuries his value has fallen accordingly. Think it’s just rehashed clickbait given the Emery connection or agent talk but a nice I wouldn’t be quick to dismiss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philosopher Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 3 minutes ago, Awol said: I’d buy him for the right price, direct competition for Buendia but favouring the left side of the pitch - which wouldn’t hurt. Thing is Arsenal wouldn’t sell to us for the right price, so he’ll like end up at West Ham - and do brilliantly. It's risky business buying players failing at top clubs. This is because firstly they haven't been good enough to stay there. Secondly any subsequent move is a step down so motivation is often an issue. And when injuries are a problem, that rarely changes. ESR's long periods of being fit mostly coincide with when he's not getting many matches. But once the appearances and starts rack up he breaks. He's a talent, but a risk. Let West Ham take the risk! We have been burned by this many times. Barros, Djemba- Djemba, Barkley, Richards to name a few! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burchy Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 I may get shot down in flames for this but I’d rather we cashed in on Bailey and/or Ramsey than sell Luiz. Bailey I’d replace with Bakayoko, younger, better dribbler and similar stats wise. Wide left is where I’d like us to splash the cash in the Summer, a Xavi Simons/Florian Wirtz equivalent out there could really help push us on. I’d like us to look at Veerman at PSV but not as an out and out replacement for Luiz, I’d buy him as Luiz comp/cover and keep Luiz. For me Bailey and Ramsey would be easier to replace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 1 minute ago, thabucks said: If we don’t someone else will … He’s better than Buendia IMO, is young & English and Emery gave him his debut so knows all about him, his attributes and ceiling. At the right price yes pleas and the fact he hasn’t played a huge amount - more down to be not being picked as much as injuries his value has fallen accordingly. Think it’s just rehashed clickbait given the Emery connection or agent talk but a nice I wouldn’t be quick to dismiss. He was wanted under Smith/Lange/Purslow before he got injured. It's absolutely rehashed click bait. The link I've seen recently is self promoting transfer spoofer, Dean Jones, saying Villa should go back in for ESR. That's nothing but opinion piece 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke313 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 5 minutes ago, thabucks said: If we don’t someone else will … He’s better than Buendia IMO, is young & English and Emery gave him his debut so knows all about him, his attributes and ceiling. At the right price yes pleas and the fact he hasn’t played a huge amount - more down to be not being picked as much as injuries his value has fallen accordingly. Think it’s just rehashed clickbait given the Emery connection or agent talk but a nice I wouldn’t be quick to dismiss. And? Let them. His injury record alone is not worth the risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thabucks Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 1 minute ago, Kiwivillan said: He was wanted under Smith/Lange/Purslow before he got injured. It's absolutely rehashed click bait. The link I've seen recently is self promoting transfer spoofer, Dean Jones, saying Villa should go back in for ESR. That's nothing but opinion piece Yep in full agreement with you - just was discussing the merits of signing him but better value elsewhere to be had for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thabucks Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 (edited) 6 minutes ago, burchy said: I may get shot down in flames for this but I’d rather we cashed in on Bailey and/or Ramsey than sell Luiz. Bailey I’d replace with Bakayoko, younger, better dribbler and similar stats wise. Wide left is where I’d like us to splash the cash in the Summer, a Xavi Simons/Florian Wirtz equivalent out there could really help push us on. I’d like us to look at Veerman at PSV but not as an out and out replacement for Luiz, I’d buy him as Luiz comp/cover and keep Luiz. For me Bailey and Ramsey would be easier to replace. Ramsey is the obvious name to sell given his how grown meaning pure FFP profit. Not sure I’d say Bakayoko is a better dribbler than Bailey either and his stats are in an inferior league - some of the skillz Bailey has shown this season have been unreal - plus Bertie is better than both on his day at dribbling. Veerman I don’t know enough about and no chance whatsoever we could get near Simon’s or Wirtz and tbh not sure I’d want to either given the outlay required right now. Edited January 15 by thabucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philosopher Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 4 minutes ago, burchy said: I may get shot down in flames for this but I’d rather we cashed in on Bailey and/or Ramsey than sell Luiz. Bailey I’d replace with Bakayoko, younger, better dribbler and similar stats wise. Wide left is where I’d like us to splash the cash in the Summer, a Xavi Simons/Florian Wirtz equivalent out there could really help push us on. I’d like us to look at Veerman at PSV but not as an out and out replacement for Luiz, I’d buy him as Luiz comp/cover and keep Luiz. For me Bailey and Ramsey would be easier to replace. Bailey has been good for half a season. So if 50 million was put on the table we'd be crazy not to consider it. Love JJ, he is a Villa lad, and we need to keep the homegrown players that are good enough, and he is good enough. We need him for our squad lists alone. Before we even talk about ability. Then he is still very young with lots of room to improve. However his injury record is starting to look a bit dodgy. But regardless we CAN'T sell him as we wouldn't even be able name a 22 man European squad. However in terms of importance to the team; in terms of consistency, style of play, leadership, and regular starts Luiz is bettered only by Martinez. Luiz and Martinez are our most important players and no one else is even close. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enda Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 I’d say Kamara and Luiz are about equal in importance to us. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philosopher Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Enda said: I’d say Kamara and Luiz are about equal in importance to us. Nope. Kamara hasn't proven that yet. He may be. But Doug rarely misses a game. Kamara missed 14 games last season because of injury, and 4 this season due to the suspensions. Luiz is a leader, he orchestrates the play. And pulls the strings in midfield. Kamara can't compete with that. Edited January 15 by Philosopher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 (edited) 42 minutes ago, thabucks said: If we don’t someone else will … He’s better than Buendia IMO, is young & English and Emery gave him his debut so knows all about him, his attributes and ceiling. At the right price yes pleas and the fact he hasn’t played a huge amount - more down to be not being picked as much as injuries his value has fallen accordingly. Think it’s just rehashed clickbait given the Emery connection or agent talk but a nice I wouldn’t be quick to dismiss. How do you know that? Has he been linked to anyone else? No one has to buy him… Somebody will? I doubt any other club positioned around them/us would even be interested… why should we? Why can’t we be placed in that bracket now rather than continuing to feel or be viewed as inferior? Or “feeding off scraps”? We can definitely set our sights higher for players out there… the kinds that Monchi and Unai are identifying… and we aren’t desperate for anyone to join anyway either… we have good players to coach and improve… and to get fit. Better than Buendia? No, nope… how? Why? Cos he’s a “young English player”?? Or just because he plays for Arsenal? That doesn’t qualify… the tax is real and many of these are some of the most overrated, overpriced and overpaid players around… no value. If he was better, he’d be playing/involved regularly for them and he isn’t… he’d be impressing… Buendia has been proven to be one of the most creative players in the country… his stats while at Norwich (and their time in PL) were outstanding… He played under a shit spoofer of a Scouse manager who favoured an injury prone, past it player… Unai came in and played him regularly… had Emi not got injured, we would just have seen him go from strength to strength… and continue to be a key player. Let’s not forget the level of improvement Unai has brought out of players such as McGinn and Bailey… imagine what Emi could have done… I would absolutely love to have a fit and firing Buendia this season… crying out for him rn… can’t wait for him to return… as long as he is fully fit and free of his injury troubles… - yes, it’s rehashed clickbait. let’s not forget the utter and pathetic BS we saw during the last window… like Oxlade Chamberlain N why anyone listens to Talksport and some of the idiots they have on there is beyond me… - there are plenty of players Unai knows and has worked with… why haven’t we pursued them? Probably cos some of them aren’t good enough, don’t fit in… and the better ones would cost too much or wouldn’t be interested… People were constantly linking Danjuma to us and banging on about him… just because he’d worked with Unai and sung his praises…. Not once did we put an offer in for him. Why? Not good enough, not as good as what we have… just not worth it… Ramsey is better than ESR, Bailey and Diaby are… and I think Zaniolo has more talent and potential too… and so is Buendia And even if he’s comparable or a bit better or has more potential? Is the outlay worth it? And the benefit that Arsenal would get? I don’t think so… (all imo)… Edited January 16 by Jas10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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