Premiership 2020/21

[Cjay]

Abdoulaye Doucoure has joined Everton.

Oli Burke has joined Sheffield United.

Callum Robinson has joined WBA

Ollie Watkins has joined Villa

[Cjay]

Wolves have completed the one year loan with an option to buy of Portuguese midfielder Vitor Ferreira.

He is a Porto player and a Jorge Mendes one to.

Its still a shock Mendes and Wolves is allowed, clearly a loophole but every man and his dog knows Mendes influence at Wolves runs far deeper than just an "advisor".

He dictates practically every transfer they do (Doherty going to Mendes client Jose's club for example).

He also seems to love buying Porto players for some reason..

[1964white]

Michy Batshuayi linked with Leeds loaned to Crystal Palace

[Cjay]

Fulham 0-3 Arsenal
West Ham 0-2 Newcastle
WBA 0-3 Leicester
Palace 1-0 Southampton
Tottenham 0-1 Everton

[Cjay]

Nuno has agreed a new 3 year deal with Wolves..

Villa very busy
Have agreed a fee with Lyon for attacker Bertrand Traore of around £17mil.

Have agreed a fee with Arsenal for Emi Martinez £16mil.

Are still working on a deal for Milot Rashica.

Be 2 good signings there, cant say the same for Traore (vaguely remember him at Chelsea as a kid) but Martinez and Rashica are good.

[Cjay]

Brighton 1-3 Chelsea

Brighton were the better side imo, Chelsea got lucky. Brightom gave them a pen, a deflected shot, luck was all with Chelsea.

Sheffield United 0-2 Wolves

You have to admire what Chris Wilder has done but have to worry for them. How long can they compete with clubs with far more spending power while they rely on players like an ancient Billy Sharp and David McGoldrick?

Everton 1-0 Spurs.

Everton were good, new boys settled in very well. Rodriguez was class, Allan was great in the dm role. Spurs were poor, slow, half arsed, poor.

[Cjay]

Jack Grealish has signed a new 5 year deal at Villa.

Sheffield United and Crystal Palace are interested in Rhian Brewster.

WBA are closing in on a loan deal for Conor Gallagher.

[mothbanquet]

Brighton 1-3 Chelsea

Brighton were the better side imo, Chelsea got lucky. Brightom gave them a pen, a deflected shot, luck was all with Chelsea.

Sheffield United 0-2 Wolves

You have to admire what Chris Wilder has done but have to worry for them. How long can they compete with clubs with far more spending power while they rely on players like an ancient Billy Sharp and David McGoldrick?

Everton 1-0 Spurs.

Everton were good, new boys settled in very well. Rodriguez was class, Allan was great in the dm role. Spurs were poor, slow, half arsed, poor.

Brighton v Chelsea - Can't say I agree with you there mate, it took Chelsea an hour to get going but after that, Brighton couldn't really threaten. They just sat back and hoped to hit on the counter even at 3-1 down, giving Chelsea all the time in the world to work in their crosses. Maupay was a diving prat who looked like he didn't give a toss. Brighton's goal was a keeper error, other than that they had Brighton pretty well covered. Not saying Chelsea were great, mind, but once Barkley came on they looked a lot more like what one would expect from that squad.

Sheffield v Wolves - Agreed on all points. I said they'll come down to earth a bit this season and already I think they're missing Henderson. Their defence looked noticeably less organised this time around, lacked creativity and flair, and McBurnie just doesn't look up to this level at all.

Everton v Spurs - That Spurs team doesn't need a shouting in the dressing room, they need a machine gun on full auto. They sold out Poch with their Dier attitude and they're doing the same to Mourinho. Everton looked a lot more comfortable and composed, should've scored more (Richarlson, my god man...) but they've never been the most consistent. Need more games to gauge them.

[1964white]

Brighton v Chelsea - Can't say I agree with you there mate, it took Chelsea an hour to get going but after that, Brighton couldn't really threaten. They just sat back and hoped to hit on the counter even at 3-1 down, giving Chelsea all the time in the world to work in their crosses. Maupay was a diving prat who looked like he didn't give a toss. Brighton's goal was a keeper error, other than that they had Brighton pretty well covered. Not saying Chelsea were great, mind, but once Barkley came on they looked a lot more like what one would expect from that squad

Maupey looked like a lazy article, certainly didn't close down or work hard as Bamford does.

Hope Chelsea finish the season trophyless

Sheffield v Wolves - Agreed on all points. I said they'll come down to earth a bit this season and already I think they're missing Henderson. Their defence looked noticeably less organised this time around, lacked creativity and flair, and McBurnie just doesn't look up to this level at all.

McBurnnie is a championship striker imo!

Second season syndrome for the blunts possibly, I've predicted them to finish 14th, maybe lower if their board panic & sack Wilder whom has done a fantastic job in such a short space of time at Bramall Lane.

Everton v Spurs - That Spurs team doesn't need a shouting in the dressing room, they need a machine gun on full auto. They sold out Poch with their Dier attitude and they're doing the same to Mourinho. Everton looked a lot more comfortable and composed, should've scored more (Richarlson, my god man...) but they've never been the most consistent. Need more games to gauge them.

Spurs appeared to be going places a couple of seasons ago, now they look flat

[Cjay]

WBA have signed Branislav Ivanovic on a 1 year deal.

Heck of a player in his pomp but 36 now, not so sure about this.


Gareth Bale is closing in on a sensational return to Spurs on loan. Can the golf loving Welsh international rediscover his footballing skills?

Villa have signed Emi Martinez for £16mil.

We should have been all over that imo, Watkins, Traore, Cash, not fussed but Martinez yes.

The £20mil on a 3rd choice 18 year old cb would have been much better served here.

[visitingvillan]

Happy about the Martinez deal though it is a pretty expensive one for someone who is not the most experienced at the PL level. Intrigued by the Traore deal and very very very hopeful/excited about the interest in Rashica.

Also have a tedious link that we are going to be after Barkley as well .

[Cjay]

Happy about the Martinez deal though it is a pretty expensive one for someone who is not the most experienced at the PL level. Intrigued by the Traore deal and very very very hopeful/excited about the interest in Rashica.

Also have a tedious link that we are going to be after Barkley as well .

Do you think you actually have a plan beyond throwing as much money at it as possible?

Spending wise your closing in on £250million in 12 months.

It always seems for Villa that the plan never goes beyond throwing as much money at as many players as possible and hoping some are worth it.

Irony i know coming from a Leeds fan but just seems that the Villa way has been "if it doesnt work spend more cash and hope" for years.

[mothbanquet]

Happy about the Martinez deal though it is a pretty expensive one for someone who is not the most experienced at the PL level. Intrigued by the Traore deal and very very very hopeful/excited about the interest in Rashica.

Also have a tedious link that we are going to be after Barkley as well .

I'm curious to hear what you think about Cjay's points above because that's definitely the impression that's been created, that Villa have been gambling massively (something we know about all too well from the Ridsdale era). Was there a worry during those last few games of last season that if you didn't stay up it'd be big trouble financially?

[visitingvillan]

Do you think you actually have a plan beyond throwing as much money at it as possible?

Spending wise your closing in on £250million in 12 months.

It always seems for Villa that the plan never goes beyond throwing as much money at as many players as possible and hoping some are worth it.

Irony i know coming from a Leeds fan but just seems that the Villa way has been "if it doesnt work spend more cash and hope" for years.

I think this time (heh yeah I know) it is different. I think i put this on another thread but the owners/purslow hired away the head of youth academy from West Brom about a year ago and have massively invested in restructuring the academy and youth recruitment — we signed a 17 y/o striker, Louie Barry, who had just moved from WBA to Barca for about a million which to me was the statement of intent for that.

When it comes to the transfer spend, I am way less worried about it right now than I was when we still had Dr Tony. The main reasoning being that we have actual proof of both our owners wealth. Could it possibly go very wrong? Yes of course it can, but this time it feels different. Wes Edens is a co owner of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks, and Nassef Sawiris is the 4th richest African (I also believe he's the 3rd largest shareholder in Adidas).

I definitely feel the main reason that we are more comfortable is that they can back up their financial "power" vs Dr. Xia who put us on the brink of a winding up order.

[visitingvillan]

I'm curious to hear what you think about Cjay's points above because that's definitely the impression that's been created, that Villa have been gambling massively (something we know about all too well from the Ridsdale era). Was there a worry during those last few games of last season that if you didn't stay up it'd be big trouble financially?

I'd be lying if I didn't say there were some worries, but had we gone down we would've recouped ~ 100/150 mil from sales of Grealish, Mings, McGinn etc. I also think our owners are in it for the long run — there are quotes from them about getting us "challenging in europe" which they have proven to be spending to try and get us there.

[Cjay]

A thread from Swiss Ramble on Premier league financing.

[Villanois]

Other than Watson up front I don't think there's much in the quality of the new signings compared to what we have already (when fit). However I think the "plan" is to try and strengthen the squad to cover injuries. McGinn's and Heaton's injuries almost cost us dear.
Traore has me scratching my head a little but I think if mcginn misses games Trezeguet wouldn't be bad as cover for him and signing Traore means we could do that without losing the width on the right. His pace won't be an unpleasant asset to add to last seasons pretty static front line.
As far as the money spent, we have owners willing to plough the TV money back into the club and push ffp to the limit, which is why they hired purslow, they also seem pretty realistic with their goals. We were in dire straits when they bought us with the largest part of our squad out of contract.

[Cjay]

I think this time (heh yeah I know) it is different. I think i put this on another thread but the owners/purslow hired away the head of youth academy from West Brom about a year ago and have massively invested in restructuring the academy and youth recruitment — we signed a 17 y/o striker, Louie Barry, who had just moved from WBA to Barca for about a million which to me was the statement of intent for that.

When it comes to the transfer spend, I am way less worried about it right now than I was when we still had Dr Tony. The main reasoning being that we have actual proof of both our owners wealth. Could it possibly go very wrong? Yes of course it can, but this time it feels different. Wes Edens is a co owner of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks, and Nassef Sawiris is the 4th richest African (I also believe he's the 3rd largest shareholder in Adidas).

I definitely feel the main reason that we are more comfortable is that they can back up their financial "power" vs Dr. Xia who put us on the brink of a winding up order.

Think its good the owners are putting money into youth in that case.

No substitute for being able to find your own gems over paying for someone elses.

Clearly fell on your feet with the new owners.

Still just seems that there isnt much thought to recruitment last 12 months though.

Watkins is what, your 4th striker signing after Samatta, Wesley and Baston.

Martinez is another goalie after Kallinic, Nyland, Heaton, Reina.

Traore is another winger after El Ghazi, Jota, Trezeguet (how he has the cheek to name himself that i will never know).

Your wage bill must be massive?

I suppose by sacking the recruitment guy that was the owners admitting it was poor though and starting again this summer.

Know you had some injuries, do you think had Wesley and Heaton not got injured then you wouldnt have signed Watkins and Martinez or is this the club admitting they werent as good as they had hoped?

[mothbanquet]

I'd be lying if I didn't say there were some worries, but had we gone down we would've recouped ~ 100/150 mil from sales of Grealish, Mings, McGinn etc. I also think our owners are in it for the long run — there are quotes from them about getting us "challenging in europe" which they have proven to be spending to try and get us there.

Well the important thing is staying up and that's happened no matter how it happened. I haven't put your lot down for relegation this season and barring catastrophe I stand by it, there are too many other clubs who either more look out of their depth or are in far bigger trouble behind the scenes than ours.

[Cjay]

Liverpool have finally confirmed the signing of Thiago.

Liverpool also interested in Wolves attacker Diogo Jota.

Wolves are close to signing 18 year old Liverpool youth cb Ki-Jana Hoever for around £10mil. The 18 year old has barely kicked a ball at senior level.

Spurs are close to announcing the £30mil signing of Real Madrid full back Sergio Reguilon and the loan signing of former world class footballer and now almost full time golfer Gareth Bale.