Vassell looks set for move to Man City

~Rebel~

Source: http://www.football365.com/news/premiership_news/story_157850.shtml

Darius Vassell could be poised to leave Aston Villa where he has spent all of his career and join Manchester City.

It is understood a £2.5million transfer fee has been agreed between the clubs for the pacey 25-year-old striker, who has scored six goals in 22 England appearances.

The arrival of Kevin Phillips from Southampton has pushed Vassell - who has one year left on his contract - further down the pecking order.

Vassell fell out of favour last season and scored only three goals in 21 league games.

He would become manager Stuart Pearce's second striker signing in a week following the acquisition of Andy Cole from Fulham.

Seems a bit odd from Villa, its not a whole lot of money and he's not a bad player..not like they really have fantastic other options..

Bateman

Funny one alright, I would have kept him, but David O Leary's transfer history is dubious to say the list. The combined fees paid for Crouch since he left Villa must make O Leary cry.

Villain

I'm not happy at him leaving for that money, I would have let him go for £4 or £5 million but not £2.5. He has been unlucky with injuries but is still a quality player, he has never bagged that many but he has set-up quite a few. His pace causes problems for most defenders.

I also wouldn't let him go unless we have another striker signed up and I hope to god thats not Baros.

Villain

Bateman wrote:

Funny one alright, I would have kept him, but David O Leary's transfer history is dubious to say the list. The combined fees paid for Crouch since he left Villa must make O Leary cry.

Sorry Bateman but I fail to see how DOL's transfers have been dubious, since he has joined Villa and he signed very good players very cheaply, take Sorressen and McCann and Solano. He signed Kevin Philips for £750,000!!!!!

Perhaps you were talking about his time at Leeds only

Villain

Latest news from Villa:

David O'Leary today confirmed that Darius Vassell has flown back to the UK for talks and a medical at Manchester City.

The England striker has not featured on the pre-season tour of Sweden amid speculation that a move to City was on the cards.

He flew back to England yesterday and O'Leary this morning told [url]www.avfc.co.uk:[/url] "Darius was asked to go back to England and there was no reason to stop him. It all happened very quickly yesterday and we were able to get him on a flight.

"He's gone back to have a medical and sign for Manchester City. I can't say at the moment what the exact fee is, but I think it's a fee that suits Aston Villa.

"It's not fair to say that I had to sell Darius to bring in money. That would be totally unfair on the club. This is just a good deal.

"I've got a budget where I have to try and get players in, but that's nothing to do with the Darius deal.

"He had a year left on his contract, we've been offered good money by Manchester City, so it suits everybody all round as it stands.

"But who knows? The player could maybe go up there an fail to agree terms, so it's not done yet."

Big Nelly

Good money if you ask me, think he has been overrated for the past 2-3 seasons where he hasn't really been preforming, wasn't it Dave who made a joke about trying to get Sven to go to every game they play because it is the only time that Vassell scores! alot better players around and 2.5mil for a player in the last year of his contract seems fairly good to me.....also with young Moore banging in 6 or 7 in one of the pre-season games and with Phillips now on board I think Vassell would have been a squad player and not a starter!!

Dave O'Leary transfer histroy dubious? cant see how!! is this a reference to Leeds but when you think of it made some good signing it was just the Chairman the muppet gave the contracts wrong...like Ferdinand for 19mil sold a season after for 30 mil or so! aint a bad return

With Villa he has shown he has made some great budget buys!!

Villain

Moore has potential but isn't strong enough in my opinion, also a point to note is that whike he only had a year to run on his contract Villa did an option in that contract for another year, if we have a replacment agreed I wouldn't mind as much but selling him this close to the new season without a replacment is crazy IMO.

Big Nelly

irish1 wrote:

Moore has potential but isn't strong enough in my opinion, also a point to note is that whike he only had a year to run on his contract Villa did an option in that contract for another year, if we have a replacment agreed I wouldn't mind as much but selling him this close to the new season without a replacment is crazy IMO.

Dont think O'Leary ever really rated him, thats why they didnt take up the option. There was a hint on the sportinglife website where O'Leary had mentioned he was selling him to release funds so maybe he has something in the pipeline...also have lost Laursen for the start of the season....knee gone again!! Villa have very bad luck with injury!!

Edit
O'Leary insisted financial constraints had not forced the sale.

"It's not fair to say that I had to sell Darius to bring in money. That would be totally unfair on the club. This is a good deal.

"I've got a budget where I have to try and get players in, but that's nothing to do with the Darius deal.

"He had a year left on his contract, we've been offered good money by Manchester City, so it suits everybody all round as it stands," the Villa boss told avfc.co.uk.

"But who knows - the player could maybe go up there and fail to agree terms, so it's not done yet."

Not really a hint but he seems to be suggesting he had to sell to buy!! wat ever happened the 20mil they where supposed to have to buy players?????

Juan Pablo

I think the signing of Vassell is a good one for us. I can see him thriving at a club like City, and its a good move for him to get out of Villa and reignite his carrer. In Andrew Cole and DV, Pearce has brought in two strikers with a proven goalscoring record in the Premiership for £2.5 million quid. In relation to the fee that Liverpool paid for crouch, I think this represents good business by SP. We now have money in reserve to strengthen the squad, with players like Castelan of Feyenoord and Arnold Mvuemba (U21 French international who impressed against England in the recent Toulon tournament) of Rennes being touted as possible replacements for SWP. I have a lot of faith in SP as a manager and look forward to the start of the season.

andyman

Good signing on City's behalf.

Kingp35

Yeah its a good signing for city all right and a good one for the player. Vassell does have a lot of potential but he has been having it tough at Villa and he needed a new start.

I dont agree that Cole was a good signing. The man is passed it and has been for a while now. Waste of wages tbh

andyman

I can see Cole doing well at City. I don't agree that he's past it. He is still a handy player to have.

evilhomer

Should be interesting to see which partnership bears most goals.
Vassell and Fowler?
Fowler and Cole?
Cole and Vassell?

You got to love it when the transfer market starts to move

Serbian

I know stats don't always tell the full story, but when I saw Vassel move for such a small amount of money, I checked out the stats on the premier league website. I think the stats will put things a little bit into perspective:

Darius Vassel Stats

Season    Appearances    Goals    Assists
-----------------------------------------
04/05         21           2         1
03/04         32           9         2
02/03         33           8         3
-----------------------------------------
Totals        86          19         6

I know I wouldn't pay more than 2.5 million for that record.

evilhomer

I agree with you Serbian He is hardly a prolific goalscorer but He does put defences under pressure with his pace. Not to mention the supply He would have recieved at Villa.

Sometimes a player just needs to move somewhere else to find some form.
Diego Forlan springs to mind!

Big Nelly

evilhomer wrote:

Sometimes a player just needs to move somewhere else to find some form.
Diego Forlan springs to mind!

Forlan always had the look about him as a quality striker! I seen him play international footie and was class!! Vassell alwyas looked useless to be honest! ok he has pace but wat else? cant finish for ****! seen him run thru and once he see's the goalie he loses control or misses by a mile! hasnt scored many in last few season and as I mentioned above before stats! this is just another display of a english football player that is over-rated! 2.5mil for a player that has hardly scored in 2 seasons! thats mental! wat cud you buy in Italy/Spain for 2.5mil? alot better than Vassell

Not Im not a Villa supporter but like them until the Wednesday rise back to Glory!(it will happen, dont ruin my dreams) and I have watched alot of them since O'Leary took over and I have always though Vassell was over-rated so I think this is a good move! good money and again O'Leary shows he aint no dope in transfer market!!

Big Nelly

Confirmed move today! move for Baros looks likely now! will he move thou?