Joey47

Would make sense for him to follow Ten Hag in theory I guess. Based on pure talent Antony must be up there with the best young players in the world. How reliable is this Journo? He's the same one that's recently said we're signing Lodi right?

Please no

If it's an indication of anything it's probably that things are going to start moving at a faster pace now that we are mathematically safe.

Just because he's a class above everyone else in Villa's squad doesn't make him a bargain. James Rodriguez was clearly a class above everyone in Everton's squad last year, was he a bargain? He's only a bargain if he performs well, adds to Villa's squad and helps them progress, not just because he's a big name player going for a low transfer fee. I'm not saying this signing is guaranteed to fail, it just feels like the more likely outcome, in which case Villa have Coutinho's 70% less than 400k on their books for 4 years. It just feels like a James to Everton, Bale on loan to to Tottenham. Even Ronaldo to Manu this year, he's performed well but did he help manu progress?

Don't get me wrong, I would be extremely happy if we signed Raphinha, I think he's a fantastic player. Just didn't agree with him being a million times better signing than Danjuma who you seemed to be dismissing.

Good point on the pay cut. I can't deny that if we were signing Coutinho I would be excited about it. But I feel like the signing has more of a chance to go sideways than Villa getting the Coutinho of pre-Barca.

I mean he hasn't performed very well at all for Villa so far (bar a couple of games against lower table teams). As someone mentioned above it feels like a very James Rodriguez esque signing. Similar in that they are both clearly world class talents but both aging and question marks over their hunger and desire. Barcelona will be snapping Villas hands off for £17m and getting 400k(iirc) off their wage bill. Not strange at all to not view this as an incredible signing.

His goalscoring record in the CL has also been very good. Danjuma can also play striker and is more direct and physical than Raphinha. Yes Raphinha is probably more talented and more of a natural dribbler but we already have a player like that in Maxi. I think for team balance Danjuma would be a much better signing overall than Raphinha. Edit. Just to add Danjuma is 25 years old and has just had his first "breakout" season with Villareal. Salah was 24 in his first season with liverpool. Not saying he will be the next Salah but maybe he needs a chance in a set up that suits him.

Wouldn't really want Coutinho but would be funny to see Newcastle actually steal another clubs signing instead of vice versa for once

He's an attacking fullback so can play in a back 4 or as wingback in a 3 at the back. I think he has much more potential than targett in an attacking sense. Also, some have suggested Howe will want to play a back 3 at times, Targett doesn't really excel as an attacking wingback which is part of the reason Villa sold him.

This would be a class signing. He goes under the radar a bit but he's very solid and one of the most progressive CB's in the league if I remember correctly.

That's just about fair, although I'd argue some of those picks don't walk into our team. I think at the end of the day they have had really good timing and Moyes is getting the most out of that squad while players such as Rice and Bowen have had amazing seasons. The squads themselves are really not too far apart in quality and I do think we should be competing with West Ham next year.

Definitely not 9, which of their players would you say walk into our first team out of curiosity? I would say Rice, Bowen, Antonio(over Wood but not Wilson) maybe soucek too but we Howe wouldn't play Rice and Soucek behind Bruno anyway.

Hopefully we can do similar and not have players wanting out to more established clubs during our rise. Man city had it easier than us in that they didn't really have to worry too much about FFP so their rise to the top was fast and it never felt like they were going backwards.

This got me thinking. How many players have Man city lost since their takeover? I'm talking about players they didn't want to sell but were forced to because the player wanted to leave? They sold Ferran Torres recently but he was hardly a star player for them.

They've pretty much gone and got what a lot of our fans wanted when our takeover first happened. Rangnick DOF (although apparently he will just be a part time consultant for them) and Ten Hag manager. Let's see how it works out for them, they really need a complete overhaul.

Mad statement. Why?

Bruno F just about tops him for stinking attitude in my opinion.

Never even considered Iheanacho for some reason. I think he would be a class signing, his passing is top tier for a striker and is also clinical in the box.

What would people prefer out of finishing 9th and burnley relegated or finishing 10th/11th and everton relegated?

Will also prepare our players for the season ahead

Good point, maybe it's also to do with how these characters gel together as well. In the same way a team needs the right physical attributes in different positions, a team also needs a right balance of characters and personalities throughout. But also I think everyone would agree that man u has a pretty rotten culture top to bottom.

Yeah this is a good point. But how can we really know which of these rumours are truthful? If I was a journalist and needed something to write about, it would be quite easy to take one of the hottest prospects in football who is smashing goals in in the CL and link them with the club who have recently had a massive money takeover.

Yeah me too, when you watch him in games he just seems to have a big presence. He's also very good in the air.

Hopefully we can have the right people in place so that we can make sure we are only brining in players with great character. I feel like that's something Man City and Liverpool have really focused on when you look at their recruitment over the last few years. Can't think of many players they have brought in recently with poor character... except Benjamin Mendy. Then you look at Manures recruitment in the same period and you can tell they haven't given character any thought at all.