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

Interesting to see that our owners are currently looking into buying Vasco Da Gama. Them being currently linked to signing Coutinho and being a pipeline into the brazilian market are obviously notable too.

Crysencio Summerville (Leeds and the championship POTS I believe) also being linked again. He wants out at Leeds and them not getting promoted is being reported as having big financial implications and them having to sell a few players. Might not let him go as cheaply as that might imply though as it seems plenty of clubs are linked including Us, Newcastle, Liverpool and Chelsea.

Villa have extended the sleeve sponsorship deal, probably including an increase given it will now be on display in the CL but I see no mention of that.

We continue to be linked to Soler from PSG. Perhaps Barkley is seen as a Dendoncker replacement while Soler might take the place of Zaniolo as there are suggestions he could be leaving PSG on loan. What chance we have I don't know but our name keeps popping up with regards free transfer Adrian Rabiot. I'd say they are planning with not getting him in mind though.

UEFA's coefficient payments are based on a club’s past ten years of results in European competitions, which meant Newcastle United were given only £3.8m last season compared to Manchester City's £28m package. However Crystal Palace are putting forward a proposal that if voted for would benefit Villa this season and allow clubs to claim the difference in coefficient funding between themselves and the top club in Europe as allowable losses. If Premier League clubs agree to it, Villa would be given an extra £20m-£30m in allowable financial losses. 

Birmingham born 22y/o left back Archie Brown now plying his trade with Gent after also spending a year in Switzerland is also being linked now.

It's already the off season - otherwise pundits would never spend this much time talking about Villa but still it's nice to not just get a quick mention.

I really don't like it / want it but it is starting to feel like there is far too much smoke for there to be no fire with regards Douglas Luiz.

Heavily linked to Juve and the talk is money plus Weston McKennie (with Samuel Iling Jr a possibility too).

McKennie would probably be a rotation / squad option instead of a guaranteed starter but if nobody else gets sold before the June 30th deadline maybe this could be happening. As great as Luiz is and has been for us he may be one of the more replaceable stars in the long term in some ways as he has often been asked to play deeper than actually suits him while the likes of Tielemans and McGinn or Barkley can perhaps play in the role he should be in when he isn't covering the likes of Kamara being absent.

The other one that keeps doing the rounds atm is Matty Cash to AC Milan and Denzel Dumfries (who only has a year left on hiss contract) to Villa from Inter for around the same money.

Should also be interesting to see if anything happens with Kelechi Iheanacho as he was linked with a free transfer a lot during the year and he is now officially gone from Leicester. Don't think we will be top of the queue though unless someone comes in and bends our arm for Duran. His international teammate Ndidi is also available on a free as of the end of this month and would not be the worst Luiz replacement if someone other than Juvve came in with a cash only offer.

one reason for this potential player swap business may be that it is being reported Manchester City retain a 20 per cent sell-on fee of any future transfer concerning Douglas Luiz away from Aston Villa.

so instead of giving City 10m+ of a 50m+ fee they might get 4m or so from us.

I’d still be hoping that after June 30th villa could start investing again but if we could really get 40-50m for Duran it’d be hard to turn that down. I know when I mentioned him as a sale able asset the club might might take advantage of, people were against it (and it wasn’t something I wanted) but if he is going to agitate for a move then using him to avoid PSR (which might not even be an issue next year) and then immediately signing Iheanacho and maybe someone like Jonathan David in July would give us plenty of options / allows Watkins be not run into the ground as well as of course being financially prudent.

Hopefully we could still go after the likes of (previously linked) Hermoso & Dumfries in July too especially if we can get Coutinho among others off the wage bill.

looking more and more like the Duran deal might go through

significant profit for someone who barely started and even though I’d like him to stay and he clearly has big potential he is a player who could be replaced after the June 30th deadline.