Conjo

Bought back when the Bundesliga was better.

Wasn't he a bit weird? Like extremely superstitious or something.

Seems like the Norwegian manager is confusing Haaland for Jostein Flo the way we've started this match.

Do they? I was checking their main forum before the first match against us this season, and most of them preferred Mee and Collins over Tarkowski whom they wanted to cash in on in January as Collins in their eyes was a ready made replacement.

Ideally this is what happens, but we may find it easier to shift Lascelles than Fernandez & Clark so may opt to have them as back-ups instead.

This season: Seems a perfect fit for what we need at least.

Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Ashley would want to bloat the transfer fee in order to have less wriggle room with FFP compared to every other club being creative with it the other way around to be able to spend as much as possible

Only marginally from what I can remember, but he's 8 years younger and can improve. For £15m I can understand us being interested.

On the basis that google only gave me two hits, from this forum, on posts by stan, I'd guess that he is on a covert op troll operation 10/10 for coming up with a name that sounds like a fantastic footballer though.

Really hoping we are in for him. Think he's the next big thing, potentially even better than Bowen, to come from the Championship. Primarily a right winger, but can play up top as well so fills two gaps we desperately need to fill this window.

Some nerve asking for 180k. Got maybe 2 years left at the top of his already average game.

Just re-quoting for easier reference. Maybe you didn't say it outright, but by refering to other clubs who's had success by spending money you sure imply that is what people on here have said. Agree on that bit, and I think you'll struggle to find many, if any, that disagrees. However, at the time Everton signed these players, most people will have said XYZ was a good signing by them, similarly to what we are saying about Villa now. If the Villa team struggle to gel together and become a dysfunctional group like Everton, leaving Villa with FFP problems and a bunch of ageing, highly paid players they are unable to move on down the line, it wouldn't surprise people as we've just seen it happen to Everton. I think it's a valid concern to have for us as well, while at the same time wanting the club to invest as much as it can in order to become as good as it can. At the end of the day, it is all educated guesses and gambles. Some pay off, some don't. I'd prefer if we target young players with potential as it will be easier to move them on for the same or even more than they were bought for after a season or two if they don't do as well as hoped/expected. It gives us a higher ceiling for how good we can become, and makes it easier for us to stay within the limits of FFP. I am always a bit sceptical about paying high fees and wages for 29+ players. I was fine with the signings in January as we needed the experience to stay up, but I flat out refuse to acknowledge that any of the fees we paid for any of the players were "bargains" or "steals". We paid a hefty sum for what we got, but we stayed up in style, so it was worth it as a short term fix. We have one of the oldest squads in the league so enough experience, and hope we look to build for the future in the summer.

"Neat and tidy that keeps things ticking over"-central midfielders. All of them are frauds.

Would be interesting to see some stats on it. I'd be very surprised if the average wage bills in Italy and Spain in those periods were higher than England. I suspect it was only a few of the top clubs that had the ability to spend as much or slightly more than the top clubs in England.

Got any examples of that? Literally nobody afaik says we shouldn't spend money on new players. It's usually a discussion around the worth of a proposed/linked player compared to what people believe we will get in return, longevity and potential re-sale value of the player.

Gundogan - Rodri - De Bruyne Thiago - Fabinho - Keita Kovacevic - Jorginho - Kante Strange how Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea haven't done an Everton.

Hope his very recent form, i.e last two matches, is something he can build on. In that case he'd be a handy squad player. If we get the pre-2 matches to post-injury for Benitez Longstaff it's a waste of a squad number.

Agree. Only reason I can see they would want to get Henderson in now is fear that he might go elsewhere in the summer if Howe sees him as the long term keeper since Dubs is getting close to the tail end of his career.

Justin plays a lot at LB for Leicester. This season:

Wor Miggy living rent free in Grealish' head, for some weird reason. I'd take it as a compliment tbh.

Pretty much sums him up

Don't know what percentage of total games it is, but Foden has 45 appearances and Grealish 38 this season so very much in the first team picture. Not sure Phillips would be able to get as many games as that though with Rodri ahead of him.

Is his loan until 01.06? If we have an option to buy in the loan agreement, I assume we'd have to exercise it before the loan officially ends. If I was Villa, I'd be looking for more than what has been reported when the agreement expires based on his performances for us.

Didn't quite understand all the criticism he got in the match thread today. Even for Burnleys goal at least he tracked back well and tried to defend. Passed the ball around more than he did during his poorer spell. Got an assist. 7/7.5 out of 10 performance.