Aston Villa Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours/Champions League Thread 2024/25

Bounty Hunter

Not a shock although it’s now 14+mil not 12 and it’s good to have that buy back in there.

the part that does stand out though is the reporting that we are open to selling Archer and less surprisingly that there is strong interest.

surely if we are going to be letting him go we have to be signing someone else wether it’s to rotate with / challenge or be backup to Watkins. Outside of Felix on loan I’ve not seen a whole lot of CF links though.

LeBash

I think the Ramsey deal is good. We are stacked in Midfield and if he comes as good as JJ we just buy him back. I think we should be keeping Archer and developing him rather than spending money. Hold the money for a right back and replacement keeper.

Bounty Hunter

Aston Villa have opened talks to sign Zaniolo according to Romano!

He has a release clause of 30m euro and only ended up in Turkey after falling out with Mourinho at Roma where he had been there prized asset before his injury iirc, infact it was Monchi who signed him when he was there.

Maybe we are sticking to one up front and the likes of Zaniolo or Diaby in the hole behind which may be why we would let the likes of Archer go... although I would still prefer we kept him as I think we would be in trouble without Watkins for any period of time.

rahenyrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120959556#Comment_120959556

Looks like he’s Emi’s replacement. Rotten luck after looking so good in pre season.

Necro

Aye it appears Buendia has done his ACL. That's very unfortunate.

https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1689586137726070784?t=zj-sb4NSXeO_SmhY2b85Sw&s=19

Bounty Hunter

Disappointing but injuries happen and can often affect a team far more than it might Villa if we are able to bring in someone like Zaniolo in his place.

this time last year something like this happened to Carlos and we were not lucky enough to be able to take such action.

circadian

Feel bad for Buendia, he was really hitting good form under Emery. Hopefully nail a replacement as he'd miss the best part of a season with ACL.

Bounty Hunter

Doesn't sound like Archer will be at the club this season

Emery added: "We have always two options, sometimes on loan, sometimes selling them. We are analysing each case individually and trying to get the best option."

Not a fan of this move. However I will admit that he needs to be playing. We need to sign a striker if he goes. Maybe the club would look at a Ramsey style buy back clause if selling him.

Also there are reports re Zaniola that Villa made a 3m loan bid with an option to then sign him for 30m

LeBash

Wonder if Archer threw the dummy out of the pram. A couple of weeks ago Emery mentioned we would be keeping both Archer and Duran.

Bounty Hunter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120961374#Comment_120961374

Yeah I get the impression he isn't happy with being at best on the bench and think he could now be sold with a buy back clause included in any deal. Duran is currently injured though so it really is just Watkins.

I mean if he got injured next in line is...umm...Keinan Davis! definitely need to bring someone in if Archer leaves even if it is a loan (hmmm Jao Felix still hasn't found a home...though tbh I don't think he is an out and out CF) or a cheap older player as backup.

Brussels Sprout

Hibs beat Luzern 3-1 last night in the first leg so could possibly be a really short away trip for Villa in the playoff round.

Bounty Hunter

Aston Villa have submitted an official bid for Nicolo Zaniolo.

€3m loan fee with salary covered and a €20m buy option. €7m add-ons up to a potential €27m package.

Still waiting for Galatasaray's final answer. Frustration growing. [@FabrizioRomano]

Panrich

Supposed rumour on twitter from same source that broke Buendia injury that Watkins is out for today. Hopefully rubbish as that would really damage our chances.

LeBash

Interesting in seeing if Emery has changed to a 4231 or which of Bailey and Diaby plays the 10 to make the box midfield. I'm guessing neither are ideal in the box midfield.

OneColdHand

Watkins starts thankfully. Quite an attacking line up. Bailey and Diaby.

Bounty Hunter

Looks like a 4-2-3-1 alright.

Torres not starting yet. Maybe him and Carlos start the conference league game (Tielemans too). Glad that Watkins rumor was rubbish anyway

Bounty Hunter

Well then...

Not going to be like the last game vs Newcastle

1-0 down

Tonali

OneColdHand

1-1! Diaby!

artanevilla

Might end up being 3-3 again. Diaby debut goal.

Bounty Hunter

Brilliant response! Only 3m after their goal. both of the new record signings on the scoresheet already. This could be an end to end game that will give me heart palpitations

artanevilla

Brutal defending, just leaving them free.

Bounty Hunter

Let's hope that's not serious for Mings.

Torres time

artanevilla

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120970082#Comment_120970082

Looks quite serious, he is crying. Looks like knee ligament.

CSF

Almost as if we had no idea that Newcastle were a physical team that were going to make life difficult for us. Seriously soft from us.

Everything about Bailey is just pathetic. Cash and Digne ultimately not good enough either. Coupled with the Mings injury, I did not expect this much optimism to be dragged out of me after 45 mins.

Bounty Hunter

Not a great first half obviously given we have lost Mings for potentially a long time to injury and the 2-1 scoreline isn't an unfair one.

but I like what I see from Diaby who is finding space and looks dangerous. D.Luiz has been doing well too and almost combined with Diaby for a 2nd. This game is far from over.

Correct decision from the ref giving Emi a yellow and he will have to careful with his usual antics now going forward.

Tielemans will be hoping to get a chance to make a difference in the second half, you never know maybe Coutinho too, was supposedly looking good in his pre-season appearances so maybe when players tire...

artanevilla

Coutinho is the only "game changer" on a not very strong bench.

artanevilla

Tielemans on for Bailey.

artanevilla

Very poor all round today.

LowOdour

Konsa woeful for 3rd goal. Here is hoping that Torres and Carlos can strike up a good partnership

Bounty Hunter

Cash missing that chance after Watkins effort makes me think it isn't happening today. Shoulda got a goal back there really

basillarkin

very poor display

Bounty Hunter

Newcastle are a good team. This has not been a good game for Villa and in many ways it is the reverse of the last game against them. We need to (obviously address what didn't work but) write this game off and start afresh next week after hopefully getting some positive vibes in our European game.

artanevilla

High line no bueno. Been exposed a lot in this game.

fullstop

Wtf was that, abysmal stuff.

circadian

Yep high line cost us the game.

CSF

There comes a point where you have to see the same thing happening time and time again and do something to stop it. There are lads out there who have no business starting at a Premier League football club (and the 3 names are obvious), but jaysus Emery has had an absolute shocker today.

Panrich

Well that's a comedown and we're back to normal service as a Villa fan. Mings injury has the potential to derail our season. I feel that only Carlos has the potential to replace his leadership but is he worth his place in the team on merit?

Losing Buendia and Mings to season ending injuries derails all the good work we did in the off season. After losing Carlos at the start of last season, you'd wonder about our luck.

CSF

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120970987#Comment_120970987

All of this is true, but you’d have to feel that having Digne and Cash as the 2 fit fullbacks was going to cause issues regardless. Things were not as good as we saw them to be.

Xander10

......

LeBash

Just saw a post from Statto on twitter. Mings has missed 12 PL games for Villa. 1 Win, 2 Draws and 9 Losses.

CSF

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120972041#Comment_120972041

Yeah it’s pretty dire stuff. But on the plus side, one of our biggest signings this window was a guy who plays the exact same position as him, and all the conversation was around how we were going to fit them both in the team together.

Now nobody will have seen anything yesterday to suggest Torres is better than Mings for us, but that doesn’t mean he won’t adjust quickly.

artanevilla

Diego and Torres are both highly rated so while it's a big blow, it's not the end of the world.

LeBash

Carlos is definitely physical enough, not sure about his pace yet considering the high line.vTorres will be targeted by every big centre forward until he proves he can stand up to it. Hopefully he can do it.

artanevilla

Mings requires surgery so I wouldn't expect to see him again until late season if even.

Bounty Hunter

Yeah he’s having knee surgery and expected to miss the majority of the season.

Zaniolo might get done this week on the bright side

CucaFace

Pretty disastrous start to season. It was never going to be any different as everyone was talking us up, that usually means Villa will disappoint.

The most importart transfer has yet to be done however which could really help us this season which would be the sale Leon Bailey.

He is truely a woeful footballer and starting a game with him is like starting with 10 men.

Emery is a great manager. I just don't know what footage he is watching every week where he is just blind to the what a disastrous player Leon Bailey is.

He should have know well how this would put us on the back foot immediatley in this game away to Newcastle and he didnt let us down in this respect.

We played McGinn in Bailey's position against Newcastle at home and battered them. Why he decided to opt for 2 wingers (one being totally useless and pointless) away to them was just a huge mistake.

Bounty Hunter

Wonder could we see more yet? I think we might not be fully done. At least not if there are some expected outgoings.

Brussels Sprout

Zaniolo is 24 and has done his ACL twice already...

CSF

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120981915#Comment_120981915

He could be currently suffering from 2 ACLs and still be more effective than Leon Bailey

Bounty Hunter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120981915#Comment_120981915

Which is why the loan could be smart business. He is fit now, just played half a season in Turkey (10 matches, 5 goals) and as you say is still only just (in July) 24 so if he can continue to stay fit he could prove to be well worth 30m euro (especially when you consider what that gets you in todays market) but if he doesn't meet the requirements to make the loan permanent due to fitness issues well then it was a pretty cheap gamble for someone to cover Beundia after his injury.

Also being linked to Argentinian LB Acuna if Digne heads off to Saudi. Don't feel it has worked out at all for Digne since he signed and think he is the highest earner at the club outside of maybe Coutinho so could see why they would move him on especially if we could get a decent fee. Acuna would not be my first choice but Moreno probably will be Emerys and Acuna is a similar attacking LB so could fill in well until he gets fit. That said I'm not convinced it will happen and would prefer a RB than a LB especially with Mings injury (Konsa being RB cover as well as CB cover/starter might be too much given all the extra European games).

Edit

Reports out of Spain saying: Sevilla have ‘flatly rejected’ the first offer from the Villans, which was worth €5m plus another €2m in variables.