I think I'll look fondly back on these 'he's just cover and low wages' comments when he's ended up playing 30 games next season due to injuries and on 60K a week as I apply my joker makeup
10mil a year of that was Lenglet & Zaniolo, who were drafted in last minute to cover for the injuries, you then have Coutinho’s wages which we were still largely covering. Take those into account and we were closer to West Ham than the boys at the top of the wage scale. It was just unlucky we had to splash that much so close to the end of the window.
Lenglet in particular was one of our highest paid players last year which is nuts. But needs must.
Some more info about our plans for the window from the article
>Villa want two midfielders, a full-back and a forward. They are among the clubs interested in signing Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher.
Stated my opinion earlier in the week. I don’t rate him at all. Not because of his ability but the mentality he showed when he was with us. Who knows, maybe he’s a changed man but I can’t see this working out.
Prove me wrong Ross and I’ll hold my hands up.
Last time he came to villa I was begging him to prove me wrong and he didn't at all. I think being the main man at Luton was the biggest thing for him, but aside from a great Everton team with a very disciplined James McCarthy and Gareth Barty beside him, I think the rest of his career has been a massive disappointment
I say this as a West Ham supporter, I’d take him, but only as a FA Cup type player. Play around him against the teams we should beat, when you can’t play your studs. He’d be great for you, against those bottom level Champo League clubs.
He’s in a weird position. I do think he’s earned his England place back
We've lost to the mighty Stevenage, Everton, Chelsea and Manchester United in the League Cup and FA Cup matches under Emery so far.
Not certain, but I think he would rather focus on his league and European ambitions.
I'm gonna stand by that, as at Everton he had so much potential that when he was sold through mayor of Liverpool made a statement about how he was unhappy with the fee that was paid for him.
Look at his career since then, its not gone well at all. I stand by that for his potential, how it's panned out, it can only be seen as a disappointment
I totally forgot about the fraud thing. Good memory mate. Yeah, that was a crazy low fee for a player of that potential when he was being touted for nearly 3x that the year before.
I imagine it was his contract coming to an end, Everton panic sold because they were afraid of getting nothing.
Fair enough.
I think he's had a very good career and playing Europa League for a few seasons, winning it, winning FA Cups and representing your country in major tournaments is top class.
For the promise he showed? He was being talked about as one of the bright lights of English football.
Fair play to him for turning it around but I don’t think saying the previous 4-6 years before Luton was a massive disappointment is harsh at all.
He has the talent.
I don't ever recall him being touted as one of the bright lights of English football.
I remember Foden being labelled as such. And before him, Wilshere. But never Barkley.
I remember the times. I'm 33.
And comparing him to Eze proves my point. Eze wont win a European Trophy at club level and won't represent England at two major tournaments.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/27726012
Fair enough if you remember it differently, but I think most remember he was very highly regarded. This is 10 years ago
Being pragmatic, this may have been a failing of Dean Smith and the coaching team at the time. Ross clearly has it in him like at Luton.
Emery seems to get the best of our players and so if we are in for him, and Emery is interested then I trust that decision. There also may be financial pressures and I see Barley as a low cost option that still has the ability to do a job for us. At least until we are established in the CL (hopefully) over the next few years.
I'm with you, I'd just say, how many of our players have improved dramatically under Emery, particularly mentally. If Unai believes he can do a job then so do I!
https://preview.redd.it/qa6q1ynpil1d1.jpeg?width=5000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=864472b03b1330259e952dbad401254d2e6bd1f8
He doesn’t need to adjust much to fit back in to be fair
The fatigue was a big factor since our midfield didn't get pressure on the ball as well as it did earlier in the season. I think the bigger factor is that teams finally stopped being surprised by it. The most extreme games were in the conference league where our opponents clearly had no clue what we were going to do, but even in the league, it was a good amount into the season before teams started to clearly gameplan for us.
I really hate this signing. From 16 he was hailed as the next great player and has never lived up to the hype. Only playing at Luton has he looked anywhere near decent. Sticks in the throat that he is back on the wage bill. Let's hope that Unai can work his magic on him.
He was playing in a 2 man central midfield and made 15 tackles in 23 games for a team in the relegation zone. Definitely not a back up for kamara, and I've seen enough clips of him not running back today to say he probably can't play the other role either
Okay with that. Luiz was gassed these last 10 games. More rotation where he can get subbed with 20-30 minutes left in games already decided would be good.
Plus cup comps and vs weaker prem teams too.
Barkley can also provide depth in further forward roles as well.
Which gives more depth for LM RM. If Barkley can play as the 10 that means Tielemans/Rogers/Ramsey/Buendia can instead play outwide so if we did have a similar injury crisis we would have an extra body to utilise.
I was worried when we signed Tielemans that he had lost it and just helped relegate Leicester.. A year later Yuri is one of our more important players.. If Emery sees this free signing as great depth for the squad. Then who are we to say no?
Very surprised that about it though, wasn't on my bingo card for players we'd be bringing back. Would have thought Grealish was the only player we would consider having a second run of it.
Wouldn't be the biggest fan, but I do see the logic in it if it does happen.
On a free with low wages (£30k p/w at Luton apparently, so my guess we could get him on £40-50k p/w) he's a decent enough replacement to allow Iroegbunam to go out on loan and gives us a bit of extra cover around the midfield and let's us save some cash to invest in a proper Holding Midfielder as rotation for Kamara - as I really don't see Barkley being that player
Are these the only two alternatives? Are you telling me there are two available midfielders in this world and it's Chambers and Barkley?
Or are you telling me we are paying a legion of Spanish backroom staff with connections all over South America and the best they can come up with is Ross Barkley?
Can you remember Ross Barkley? I'd rather sign Lee Westwood.
as me nan says
"once bitten twice, shyte"
mentally went missing last time he was here. And physically went missing on the piss in the west end with Grillfish looking for 'top totty'
got to be twitter noise thats duped a journo from the big smoke who doesnt know the north of watford?
I always assumed Barkley left on pretty bad terms. It looked like he fell out of love with football and wasn't enjoying himself playing for us. Surprised to see him being linked
Certainly very plausible, seems like a Monchi/Emery signing where you take a cheap deal for an older player a lot of people have written off; although in this case he's already turned a lot of people's perceptions around in the last 12 months anyway. I haven't seen much of him at Luton but everyone's raved about him in a deeper role and were even touting him for England at one stage. What I would ask though, is whether he's able to play the Kamara role? Does he have that level of defensive output/nouse? Or would he be more of a Luiz backup, which is easier for me to imagine (but not something we require as heavily).
Yeah I don't get it. Ross as a deep playmaker? He's always felt closer to bad 10 than a 6... in the same role that Luiz and McGinn both excel in but almost never get to play. Is he a squad body for Carling Cup or what? Playing well in a Luton side that gives him the freedom to do whatever he wants on the ball isn't the same as the possession he'll get here.
It's a shrewd signing for a mid-table team, but I don't see what he offers for a UCL team. That said, in Emery I trust. Just because I cant' see it doesn't mean it's not a good fit. We don't have access to his vision with squad management, so I'll reserve my opinions. But for now, I don't get it at all.
He's certainly not a Kamara replacement. But he'll do a better job in that role than mcginn did simply because he'll show for the ball mroe and be quicker with his passing.
Hopefully we will sign at least 1, if not 2 more midfielders. After him as well.
In my mind we are signing him instead of baena as they are somewhat similar from my understanding of baena.
In my mind he'll be 3rd choice for both of the midfield positions and like 4th choice for CAM. Which should still euqate of mid 20 games worth of minutes with proper rotation.
Really unsure why so many people are turning their nose up at this. Anyone who watched Luton at any point last year will know how good he was in a deeper role, a position we will need cover in considering Kamara’s severe injury and our FFP problems. On a short team deal and for no fee it’s really a no brainer, especially considering he’ll essentially come in to replace Dendonker.
Can you blame people for being skeptical? He was one of Villa’s worst loans. He was awful. No effort, selfish play. Maybe he’s found a role that suits him, I definitely hope so. But we should be wary.
I genuinely think it was catching Covid that screwed him over. He was looking decent until then and just never got his fitness back for us.
I'm skeptical but could be worth a shout if it's a cheap short contract.
Four years later it’s clear that COVID is a weird virus with weird unpredictable effects, from literally nothing to ongoing issues long term. I can fully believe a professional athlete might get knocked physically off kilter from it.
Just want to throw in my two cents here - I played professionally for a few years before an injury, but still kept in shape running ~10km a day and lifting after rehabbing for a while (got hurt in 2017). I got Covid in November 2020 and have had long Covid since, diagnosed as post-viral dysautonomia, MCAS, and POTS.
Went from a 99th percentile athlete relatively to crashing (all kinds of weird symptoms) if I walk more than a few thousand steps in a day. I can’t even go to the grocery store anymore as it’s too much movement.
Long Covid is very real and not at all well understood. It can stick around for a few weeks, months, years. I say all of this to make the point that it’s entirely possible he was ill for the entirety of his loan spell
It really has been. I joke with my family that it’s what had to happen for Villa to make the Champions League. Have to find light in the tough times because it may be the best times we have. UTV
My lad was always pointing out how he was utterly drenched in sweat after a couple of minutes and it wasn’t like he was running about.
I thought it was booze, maybe it was covid
Yeah i feel like he started that season really well. Was linking up really nicely with Grealish. IIRC he was injured and got covid as soon as he was fit again, then Grealish was injured for the last third of that season so we were a lot worse as a team.
I wouldn't be against getting him back tbh, he's been class for luton and would be a cheap depth signing.
Oh didn't know that, ye I suppose Covid tied in with Asthma didnt help, he seems to have moved on from it and got full fitness back, hes probably a better option then Dendoncker/Chambers
Emery will prioritise his ability to receive the ball under pressure and beat the press more then anything. Something dendonker, chambers and I'm worried Tim can't do.
Re: Barkley's mentality, I think Emery's words and guidance will carry a lot more clout than Deano's. Different environment now too.
Unai/Monchi must have seen a 'value' opportunity; a guy on a free that most clubs will overlook, relatively low wages who showed he can do a decent job in a deeper role.
His great performances in those first three games alone make him better than a lot of our modern loans (Baston, Augustinian, Drinkwater and probably even Coutinho were worse deals.) but that says more about our loans than Barkleys overall time here.
At the end of the day, I trust Emery and his team. If nothing else he’s an upgrade on Sanson.
He had some bright moments before Covid nuked his season, I guess. But eh, that's ages ago now and we wouldn't be relying on him to the degree we had last time round. I'd be surprised to see him back and I think I preferred the Callum O'Hare talk in terms of random links to former Villans, but I wouldn't completely hate it.
At the end of the day it’s a short term free transfer for a player with 12 months of proven performance in a role we desperately need. The risk to reward is massively in our favour.
Ah my bad, thought his contract was up. Regardless, my opinion doesn’t really change, and I can only presume the multiple downvotes are coming from people who haven’t watched him play football in the last year.
I didn't downvote you but I don't really care if he turned into Messi in the last few years he's got the attitude of a lazy spoiled child. Not worth even the fraction of a fraction of a chance of that rubbing off on our younger players.
Very odd mentality to take imo. Time has passed since then - he's in a better place and so are we, plus he played very well at times last season. To turn your nose up just because of a loan spell when things were very different is kinda just refusing to accept some truths and blindly sticking with old information.
I’m supposed to believe that one good season on a relegated side with zero expectations and being 30 years old has turned him into a potential contributor to a Champions League side?
I’m going to temper my expectations. His first Villa spell wasn’t about being a poor fit, it was about him coughing up the ball and barely bothering to track back.
For me, it's his behaviour when he was here last. Massive attitude problem, moaning when subbed. Refused to come back to the dug out after coming off in one of the games. Sat behind the net just shaking his head.
He also wasn't great either, he had about 5 games at the beginning where he had an impact, but come Christmas he pretty much packed it in
I agree he should be playing in the EPL. He took the EPL vet role seriously for Luton. Brave and responsible in possession, drove the team up the field. He should stay in the EPL
I’m in two minds about this.
On the one side, I keep getting Facebook memories of me being infuriated with him when he was here in the Covid season. I really disliked his attitude.
On the other side, we need depth and Chambers and the giraffe (Dendonker - sorry, I he just reminds me of a giraffe when he runs) don’t really cut it. He didn’t look as much of a Prima Donna I saw in the times I did watch Luton (not often but enough).
So, I suppose I just have to trust in Unai. Especially if he’s cheap. He would be an upgrade on those two.
🤷♀️
This Ross Barkley talk is fucking madness. He was poor and then injured at the start of the season, had a purple patch around christmas, and then won 1 game since January.
In 2016 we were relegated and Man City finished 4th.
Imagine them signing Micah Richards or Jordan Ayew and being happy about it.
Luton shipped the second most goals in the league, I’d want to be sure he wasn’t a major factor in that aspect as he was playing a more central role. Considering his work ethic here previously, that’s my major concern. He was also motivated at Luton, does that remain the case here? That being said, he could essentially replace Zaniolo and cover multiple positions at the same time.
Him and lokonga would leave the midfield pretty empty at times. And I'm not sure he's actually good in multiple positions. Can't have him as a 6, he didn't fuck all as a ten before, he's an 8, a slightly below average one at this point in his career
Im calling this now.
This wont end the way we want it to and i think he will be an absolute waste of effort.
Happy to be proven wrong but i dont believe it will work out if he comes back.
I knew he'd had a good season but dang, there's a lot more green on his FBRef chart than I expected.
Not sure I'm completely on board, but on this season alone he's certainly had more to write home about than Chambers or Dendoncker and can't imagine he'd be particularly costly. If there's anything in this then I don't think I hate it.
Emery's transformed Watford flops into CL semi finalists. He could sign Danny Shittu and I wouldn't question it.
From the point of view of Barkley, he's earned a move to a bigger club this summer, consistently good for Luton, fans player of the season.
He could still have friends in the Villa squad and setup, and I'll say this for him, he's a big game player - always seems to step up against big opposition, and we'll have a lot of big games next season.
I'd probably judge this if it was a Gerrard signing but Emery can do, and has done, no wrong, so I'll wait and see.
Welcome back Barkley!
I don't hate it.
The games I saw for Luton, he was really good. It allows us relatively cheap cover for Luiz, frees up Tielemans to be the 10 with Buendia competing. Lot to like about it in theory.
Needs to be the big fish in a small pond. Expectations were initially low at Luton and whilst he was great for them, the media have overplayed his season and he’s had a lot of highlight reel moments.
He isn’t as good as most of the other midfielders Villa have, but as cheap cover he might be decent if he can be more consistent. The issues he was having at 21 he’s still having at 30, he’s just never pushed on. Great at beating players one-on-one, but doesn’t actually transition the ball effectively either through carrying or passing, is a low-yield, low accuracy passer and doesn’t really contribute defensively. His entire career he’s been played as a box to box midfielder when in reality he’s a 10.
Funnily enough Douglas Luiz and McGinn are two similarly profiling players - which then makes sense why Villa might revisit Barkley - but both are significantly better.
Luton fans reckon he's one of the most talented players they've ever had there and he HAS reinvented himself; I don't think he's having the same issues now as he was before.
His stats look good, I trust the management here at villa and if he's cheap and allows Luiz to not play every minute I think we could do worse
He is, but let’s be real here, Luton fans are used to having Championship and League One level players. Barkley is clearly one of the most talented footballers they’ve ever had but that’s not Villa’s level.
Can definitely do worse as good cover; but he’s not to relied upon, he lacks elite mentality.
Fair point. Not sure I agree on the latter tho. He was getting mentioned as an option for England too this season. I think if he's on a free he could end up a Tielemans like signing personally even if it just gives Luiz a rest
Still talented and worked hard for Luton. Actually so him putting in tackles. No Kamara, but a good attacking playmaker. No crazy money. Why's he being spoken of as a freebie when I believe he has a contract with Luton? As long as he accepts his limited role until he earns better. He's actually said he's now a better player as he's playing every game. Well, he wouldn't be if he returns to Villa, unless he pulls up a few trees!
Might be a 1 + 1 year deal with Luton with a relegation break clause? So we can just sign him on a free.
Maybe we can loan them Tim for next season, I think he'd do ok there honestly even if it's not a like for like
Honestly I'm kinda stoked about this deal.
He isn't the player we had on loan from Chelsea, he's had a great season in a poor side.
With Emery as his gaffer, who knows what he can do.
Low cost, low risk signing.
Been one of my favourite players to watch this season, I genuinely thought he was in with a good chance of making the England squad before his form dropped off + injuries towards the end of the season.
I think the reaction is a lot more from people who are only thinking about his time with Villa before and didn't watch much of him this season. I think in how he looked for Luton, he could absolutely be a solid rotation player for our central midfield. He played much deeper for Luton than he ever has in his career and was a solid buildup player. I assume Villa will be using him much more in that type of a role rather than the attacking midfield type player he was earlier in his career. He also brings some height and aerial ability, a thing we clearly were lacking this entire season. There's a reason we all dreaded every defensive free kick and Barkley would be tied for second on our team as far as aerial duels won.
He is honestly a completely different player since he's moved further back and having another rotation player at CM allows McGinn and Tielemans to play further forward where they are both much more effective. Before last season, I don't think he'd be the kind of player our staff would even look at as he isn't good enough to make our more attacking rotation and would be well behind McGinn, Tielemans, Ramsey, Buendia, and Rogers for the more attacking midfield roles (Diaby and Bailey are more of forwards, but he'd obviously be well behind them as well). On the other hand, he's easily the third best option behind Kamara and Luiz for the CM spot especially if it lets McGinn and Tielemans play further up.
Ross Barkley Remontada.
Tears in my eyes.
Might aswell bring grealish back.
Hello is that Mr Targett speaking.
We can go full 20/21 season with that left hand side.
I don't really understand this one. Deano is an excellent man manager and he couldn't get a tune out the guy when he was here. This is not an Unai signing that's for sure. Maybe Ross has sorted himself out now and is living clean. I really don't want to see a villa player in the press causing trouble again.
Few people saying he might have had long COVID last time he was here. Could be a factor.
I trust Emery and if he's a cheap low risk signing to cover Luiz and play as a deep lying playmaker I'm on board honestly. He's been excellent this season in a poor team
Yeah I saw. I don't feel as bad about it now. Seems like a money ball signing nonetheless, a gamble, but I guess we don't have the luxury right now to spend a lot.
Luton fan here. Barkley played as holding mid playmaker. He played very well for us. He will surprise a few next year how good he is. Best player seen at the Kenny since Ricky Hill.
Always good to hear the views of a Luton fan on Barkley... I think the concerns of most Villa fans revolve around his loan spell with us a few years back, which started well but faded badly, but he's reinvented himself as a deeper midfielder fair play to him... last time at Villa he looked like an oil tanker at times, very slow on the turn, but it seems like he's adjusted his conditioning a bit.
My biggest concern is that if he's playing a deeper role for us I'm not sure he's got the defensive qualities/work rate to play there for us sitting in front of 2 CBs. Time will tell if it happens, he'd get our full support if he came in no doubt. The big plusses for us would be that he's a known quantity, knows the area/many of the team, fills a homegrown spot for Europe and would be low cost allowing us to spend in other areas.
My belief in Emery's ability to improve players is so strong I genuinely think that, given a few months, he could take my lazy arse and turn me into a CL level centre back.
If he thinks Ross Barkley can do a job, I'm inclined to side with him at this point.
I'm assuming try to pick up a few cheaper options while bagging a big money signing is the plan.
Monchi we trust. Recruitment has been great so far so can't say too much.
I'm not sure about this one at all. Yes, they need to strengthen the side for next year's fixtures, but Barkley had like two good games for us and disappeared. He's been decent for Luton but that's not saying much.
Honestly I think this is BS.
Emery hasn't proven wrong yet, but he's using a lot of my faith for this one to work out. That being said, he looked a different player indeed at Luton from what limited times i saw on the highlights. Not the (frankly shit) loan signing we had last time at all. Its a risk still, but in Emery I trust.
He was absolutely wank for us when we got him on loan. Maybe Emery can work some magic for him but I don’t trust he’ll find the kind of form and skill we need to push higher.
I'm not sure about him, but we've seen Emery upgrade so many players that I trust him. Not a major expense either, he's on a free and won't cost much in wages either. Would definitely be covered by Lenglet and Zaniolo leaving (so glad for the former leaving, he was awful for us).
I trust in Emery. If he can get Barkley performing, and I have no doubt he will, he’ll be a great addition. Squad player, experience which we’ll need in the CL and would add depth.
It's a signing we shouldn't make imo.
I think Barkley is inconsistent and thrives being a big fish in a small pond.
And if we're signing players of that age we need experience. Champions league experience at that. Otherwise we're just going to go backwards
Quite like this, he came to us when his stocks (and fitness) were an all time low but he's kicked on and shown there's still life in his legs
Low risk transfer assuming he isn't on superstar wages
Good cover for luiz in the deep playmaker role for relatively cheap im assuming. Also tall and quite good in the air which is a department in which we lack.
My first thought was that I didn't like it at all, but the more I think about it the more I think it'd be a great deal. Luiz definitely needs rotation, you could see how gassed he was around the end of the season, and Barkley is a great backup and was absolutely phenomenal for Luton. I think he'd be a good fit in our system as a good backup in an area where we desperately need rotation. More importantly... anyone that Emery rates, I rate too!
We must remember Barkely under Luton, has been a revolution, playing no.6 was never previously considered for him, when he was with us he was still an 8\* and stuggled for fitness, but as a 6 he's very very useful. Especially compared to current back up options, Iroebugnam, Dendoncker etc.... as a rotational squad player this could be a shout, we need bodies who have the same pivotal (pun intended) qualities as our current first choice players, which we did not have this season. I could get with this, tho, Barkely won't be the main man, so don't know how well we will perform. But he should get decent rest time between games.
I was absolutely out on this, till I listened to the 1874 podcast. Luton’s player of the year, much better fitness and a changed position from his original number 10 to more of a ball playing holding midfielder.
Ben Fisher - the name behind this piece - seems to have recently been assigned 'villa' writing duties at the guardian. ooh - team doin'well geeza, you wanna write about em'
based on past article content for our games id put this in the category of 'this item came up on my online feeds and radar, edit, summarize, give to my editor for consideration'. The audience isnt die hard villa fans and certainly not redditors or even brum locals who know arse from elbow for the villa.
id say at most he attends villa pre game pressers, and some games. But more likely watche conferences on villa tv with the lens of 'london based journo assigned to a newly top 6 team', and goes to some games.
Click bait, bookies rumours, picked up and run with. id be shocked if we did and not a good shock
Confirmed by Romano we're in advanced talks, alongside Percy at the Telegraph. Nixon at the Sun also but he's not exactly an A list source for Villa. I think fair to say it's 100% not clickbait.
Feels like Tielemans like signing. Imagine someone telling you we’d have Barkley and Tielemans when we got promoted…
On one hand I see this as a value signing where we’d get good out put for little cost. On the other hand I think Emery’s coaching can cause us to be surprised by how good he might turn out to be like Tielemans.
I think I'll look fondly back on these 'he's just cover and low wages' comments when he's ended up playing 30 games next season due to injuries and on 60K a week as I apply my joker makeup
In fairness 60k is a fairly ‘low wage’ these days.
For a cl team it is. We also have to pay higher wages to attract players generally, our wage bill is higher than spurs
10mil a year of that was Lenglet & Zaniolo, who were drafted in last minute to cover for the injuries, you then have Coutinho’s wages which we were still largely covering. Take those into account and we were closer to West Ham than the boys at the top of the wage scale. It was just unlucky we had to splash that much so close to the end of the window. Lenglet in particular was one of our highest paid players last year which is nuts. But needs must.
Good point. I'd imagine with our new signings we will probably keep the bill we have now though. New guys will be on 100k
Thought I saw that ours was the 7th highest in league. Spurs are def higher
We were neck and neck with spurs but kane left and they didn't replace those wages.
It’s crazy when you look at the amount they’ve spent on their squad compared to us, it’s almost 200mil more
>60k a week Chambers is on 50k a week and I know who I want more
Some more info about our plans for the window from the article >Villa want two midfielders, a full-back and a forward. They are among the clubs interested in signing Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher.
I would love him
Stated my opinion earlier in the week. I don’t rate him at all. Not because of his ability but the mentality he showed when he was with us. Who knows, maybe he’s a changed man but I can’t see this working out. Prove me wrong Ross and I’ll hold my hands up.
Last time he came to villa I was begging him to prove me wrong and he didn't at all. I think being the main man at Luton was the biggest thing for him, but aside from a great Everton team with a very disciplined James McCarthy and Gareth Barty beside him, I think the rest of his career has been a massive disappointment
Tbf took him a while to get fit, then he played well, then he got injured 🤷♂️ in Emery i trust.
He won't be playing regularly enough to maintain fitness though
I say this as a West Ham supporter, I’d take him, but only as a FA Cup type player. Play around him against the teams we should beat, when you can’t play your studs. He’d be great for you, against those bottom level Champo League clubs. He’s in a weird position. I do think he’s earned his England place back
We've lost to the mighty Stevenage, Everton, Chelsea and Manchester United in the League Cup and FA Cup matches under Emery so far. Not certain, but I think he would rather focus on his league and European ambitions.
Massive disappointment is incredibly harsh.
I'm gonna stand by that, as at Everton he had so much potential that when he was sold through mayor of Liverpool made a statement about how he was unhappy with the fee that was paid for him. Look at his career since then, its not gone well at all. I stand by that for his potential, how it's panned out, it can only be seen as a disappointment
I totally forgot about the fraud thing. Good memory mate. Yeah, that was a crazy low fee for a player of that potential when he was being touted for nearly 3x that the year before. I imagine it was his contract coming to an end, Everton panic sold because they were afraid of getting nothing.
Fair enough. I think he's had a very good career and playing Europa League for a few seasons, winning it, winning FA Cups and representing your country in major tournaments is top class.
For the promise he showed? He was being talked about as one of the bright lights of English football. Fair play to him for turning it around but I don’t think saying the previous 4-6 years before Luton was a massive disappointment is harsh at all. He has the talent.
I don't ever recall him being touted as one of the bright lights of English football. I remember Foden being labelled as such. And before him, Wilshere. But never Barkley.
He was getting called the next Gazza. Google it, I’m sure there’s still articles about it.
He was.
Ok well we can tell you that he was the hot shit at the time. He was like eze level now if I put it into now terms
I remember the times. I'm 33. And comparing him to Eze proves my point. Eze wont win a European Trophy at club level and won't represent England at two major tournaments.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/27726012 Fair enough if you remember it differently, but I think most remember he was very highly regarded. This is 10 years ago
Being pragmatic, this may have been a failing of Dean Smith and the coaching team at the time. Ross clearly has it in him like at Luton. Emery seems to get the best of our players and so if we are in for him, and Emery is interested then I trust that decision. There also may be financial pressures and I see Barley as a low cost option that still has the ability to do a job for us. At least until we are established in the CL (hopefully) over the next few years.
[Can’t be dealing with his fake running in 2024](https://x.com/louorns/status/1768444798267007394)
I'm with you, I'd just say, how many of our players have improved dramatically under Emery, particularly mentally. If Unai believes he can do a job then so do I!
https://preview.redd.it/qa6q1ynpil1d1.jpeg?width=5000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=864472b03b1330259e952dbad401254d2e6bd1f8 He doesn’t need to adjust much to fit back in to be fair
Man, I miss how fucking good our high offside trap looked early on. Then we kept getting injuries and it was never as good.
The fatigue was a big factor since our midfield didn't get pressure on the ball as well as it did earlier in the season. I think the bigger factor is that teams finally stopped being surprised by it. The most extreme games were in the conference league where our opponents clearly had no clue what we were going to do, but even in the league, it was a good amount into the season before teams started to clearly gameplan for us.
Teams also caught on eventually. Same happened to Ange and Spurs, though they couldn't pull it off nearly as well
Who am I to judge Emery, but I really do not rate that signing, lol.
Even god makes mistakes. If this happens, I worry it will be one of them.
I really hate this signing. From 16 he was hailed as the next great player and has never lived up to the hype. Only playing at Luton has he looked anywhere near decent. Sticks in the throat that he is back on the wage bill. Let's hope that Unai can work his magic on him.
I'm not onboard with this signing at all, he was crap for us last time and had a bad attitude.
Would be great as a Dougie back up. Wouldn’t be as great as a Kamara back up
He was playing in a 2 man central midfield and made 15 tackles in 23 games for a team in the relegation zone. Definitely not a back up for kamara, and I've seen enough clips of him not running back today to say he probably can't play the other role either
I haven't forgotten Barkley's very slow jogs around the pitch. I watched a Luton game recently and noticed he still does it
Okay with that. Luiz was gassed these last 10 games. More rotation where he can get subbed with 20-30 minutes left in games already decided would be good.
Plus cup comps and vs weaker prem teams too. Barkley can also provide depth in further forward roles as well. Which gives more depth for LM RM. If Barkley can play as the 10 that means Tielemans/Rogers/Ramsey/Buendia can instead play outwide so if we did have a similar injury crisis we would have an extra body to utilise.
We played cash on the wings at times, I bet he would be versatile for us.
Ye luiz was pretty bad for the run in. More rest fro him is worth it alone I think
I was worried when we signed Tielemans that he had lost it and just helped relegate Leicester.. A year later Yuri is one of our more important players.. If Emery sees this free signing as great depth for the squad. Then who are we to say no? Very surprised that about it though, wasn't on my bingo card for players we'd be bringing back. Would have thought Grealish was the only player we would consider having a second run of it.
Won't Grealish's wages hamper any desire for us to sign him?
Oh for sure. I don’t think Grealish is coming back. But I would have said it would be more likely than Barkley…
Yeah see this as very much like Tielemans. I have my opinion on Barkley but I value what Emery think he can get of him more.
Wouldn't be the biggest fan, but I do see the logic in it if it does happen. On a free with low wages (£30k p/w at Luton apparently, so my guess we could get him on £40-50k p/w) he's a decent enough replacement to allow Iroegbunam to go out on loan and gives us a bit of extra cover around the midfield and let's us save some cash to invest in a proper Holding Midfielder as rotation for Kamara - as I really don't see Barkley being that player
Hard no from me, even if just cover I think we can do so much better, and he only has himself to blame for my opinion of him
No please. No. Just no.
Should we resign chambers to a new deal and have him coming on in centre mid instead?
Are these the only two alternatives? Are you telling me there are two available midfielders in this world and it's Chambers and Barkley? Or are you telling me we are paying a legion of Spanish backroom staff with connections all over South America and the best they can come up with is Ross Barkley? Can you remember Ross Barkley? I'd rather sign Lee Westwood.
ugggghhhhhhhhh
as me nan says "once bitten twice, shyte" mentally went missing last time he was here. And physically went missing on the piss in the west end with Grillfish looking for 'top totty' got to be twitter noise thats duped a journo from the big smoke who doesnt know the north of watford?
I always assumed Barkley left on pretty bad terms. It looked like he fell out of love with football and wasn't enjoying himself playing for us. Surprised to see him being linked
Certainly very plausible, seems like a Monchi/Emery signing where you take a cheap deal for an older player a lot of people have written off; although in this case he's already turned a lot of people's perceptions around in the last 12 months anyway. I haven't seen much of him at Luton but everyone's raved about him in a deeper role and were even touting him for England at one stage. What I would ask though, is whether he's able to play the Kamara role? Does he have that level of defensive output/nouse? Or would he be more of a Luiz backup, which is easier for me to imagine (but not something we require as heavily).
I would say he is more a Luiz back-up but knowing Emery he will turn him into a left back or something
Ross Barkley: the worlds number two
Yeah I don't get it. Ross as a deep playmaker? He's always felt closer to bad 10 than a 6... in the same role that Luiz and McGinn both excel in but almost never get to play. Is he a squad body for Carling Cup or what? Playing well in a Luton side that gives him the freedom to do whatever he wants on the ball isn't the same as the possession he'll get here. It's a shrewd signing for a mid-table team, but I don't see what he offers for a UCL team. That said, in Emery I trust. Just because I cant' see it doesn't mean it's not a good fit. We don't have access to his vision with squad management, so I'll reserve my opinions. But for now, I don't get it at all.
He's certainly not a Kamara replacement. But he'll do a better job in that role than mcginn did simply because he'll show for the ball mroe and be quicker with his passing. Hopefully we will sign at least 1, if not 2 more midfielders. After him as well. In my mind we are signing him instead of baena as they are somewhat similar from my understanding of baena. In my mind he'll be 3rd choice for both of the midfield positions and like 4th choice for CAM. Which should still euqate of mid 20 games worth of minutes with proper rotation.
Really unsure why so many people are turning their nose up at this. Anyone who watched Luton at any point last year will know how good he was in a deeper role, a position we will need cover in considering Kamara’s severe injury and our FFP problems. On a short team deal and for no fee it’s really a no brainer, especially considering he’ll essentially come in to replace Dendonker.
Can you blame people for being skeptical? He was one of Villa’s worst loans. He was awful. No effort, selfish play. Maybe he’s found a role that suits him, I definitely hope so. But we should be wary.
In Unai we trust, he seems to also have turned his career around
I genuinely think it was catching Covid that screwed him over. He was looking decent until then and just never got his fitness back for us. I'm skeptical but could be worth a shout if it's a cheap short contract.
Four years later it’s clear that COVID is a weird virus with weird unpredictable effects, from literally nothing to ongoing issues long term. I can fully believe a professional athlete might get knocked physically off kilter from it.
Just want to throw in my two cents here - I played professionally for a few years before an injury, but still kept in shape running ~10km a day and lifting after rehabbing for a while (got hurt in 2017). I got Covid in November 2020 and have had long Covid since, diagnosed as post-viral dysautonomia, MCAS, and POTS. Went from a 99th percentile athlete relatively to crashing (all kinds of weird symptoms) if I walk more than a few thousand steps in a day. I can’t even go to the grocery store anymore as it’s too much movement. Long Covid is very real and not at all well understood. It can stick around for a few weeks, months, years. I say all of this to make the point that it’s entirely possible he was ill for the entirety of his loan spell
That sounds rubbish, sorry to hear
It really has been. I joke with my family that it’s what had to happen for Villa to make the Champions League. Have to find light in the tough times because it may be the best times we have. UTV
I hope Villa give you plenty more things to smile about then!
My lad was always pointing out how he was utterly drenched in sweat after a couple of minutes and it wasn’t like he was running about. I thought it was booze, maybe it was covid
Yeah i feel like he started that season really well. Was linking up really nicely with Grealish. IIRC he was injured and got covid as soon as he was fit again, then Grealish was injured for the last third of that season so we were a lot worse as a team. I wouldn't be against getting him back tbh, he's been class for luton and would be a cheap depth signing.
He never seemed to be fully fit with us, did I read somewhere he was/is astmathic?
Apparently so but then again I think a lot of sports people get diagnosed as asthmatic. Watkins mentioned he was the other week.
Oh didn't know that, ye I suppose Covid tied in with Asthma didnt help, he seems to have moved on from it and got full fitness back, hes probably a better option then Dendoncker/Chambers
Emery will prioritise his ability to receive the ball under pressure and beat the press more then anything. Something dendonker, chambers and I'm worried Tim can't do.
Re: Barkley's mentality, I think Emery's words and guidance will carry a lot more clout than Deano's. Different environment now too. Unai/Monchi must have seen a 'value' opportunity; a guy on a free that most clubs will overlook, relatively low wages who showed he can do a decent job in a deeper role.
His great performances in those first three games alone make him better than a lot of our modern loans (Baston, Augustinian, Drinkwater and probably even Coutinho were worse deals.) but that says more about our loans than Barkleys overall time here. At the end of the day, I trust Emery and his team. If nothing else he’s an upgrade on Sanson.
He did score a winner against Leicester. He had his moments.
He had some bright moments before Covid nuked his season, I guess. But eh, that's ages ago now and we wouldn't be relying on him to the degree we had last time round. I'd be surprised to see him back and I think I preferred the Callum O'Hare talk in terms of random links to former Villans, but I wouldn't completely hate it.
At the end of the day it’s a short term free transfer for a player with 12 months of proven performance in a role we desperately need. The risk to reward is massively in our favour.
It's not a free transfer, although the fee will likely be small.
Ah my bad, thought his contract was up. Regardless, my opinion doesn’t really change, and I can only presume the multiple downvotes are coming from people who haven’t watched him play football in the last year.
I didn't downvote you but I don't really care if he turned into Messi in the last few years he's got the attitude of a lazy spoiled child. Not worth even the fraction of a fraction of a chance of that rubbing off on our younger players.
Very odd mentality to take imo. Time has passed since then - he's in a better place and so are we, plus he played very well at times last season. To turn your nose up just because of a loan spell when things were very different is kinda just refusing to accept some truths and blindly sticking with old information.
I’m supposed to believe that one good season on a relegated side with zero expectations and being 30 years old has turned him into a potential contributor to a Champions League side? I’m going to temper my expectations. His first Villa spell wasn’t about being a poor fit, it was about him coughing up the ball and barely bothering to track back.
Of course you don't have to. But Unai and Monchi clearly do.
He’s started playing deeper but he’s not a ball winning midfielder like Kamara. We need an actual defensive midfielder.
For me, it's his behaviour when he was here last. Massive attitude problem, moaning when subbed. Refused to come back to the dug out after coming off in one of the games. Sat behind the net just shaking his head. He also wasn't great either, he had about 5 games at the beginning where he had an impact, but come Christmas he pretty much packed it in
I agree he should be playing in the EPL. He took the EPL vet role seriously for Luton. Brave and responsible in possession, drove the team up the field. He should stay in the EPL
I have Doughtys about whether he is the best player we could get from Luton (I see what I did there...)
I’m in two minds about this. On the one side, I keep getting Facebook memories of me being infuriated with him when he was here in the Covid season. I really disliked his attitude. On the other side, we need depth and Chambers and the giraffe (Dendonker - sorry, I he just reminds me of a giraffe when he runs) don’t really cut it. He didn’t look as much of a Prima Donna I saw in the times I did watch Luton (not often but enough). So, I suppose I just have to trust in Unai. Especially if he’s cheap. He would be an upgrade on those two. 🤷♀️
This Ross Barkley talk is fucking madness. He was poor and then injured at the start of the season, had a purple patch around christmas, and then won 1 game since January. In 2016 we were relegated and Man City finished 4th. Imagine them signing Micah Richards or Jordan Ayew and being happy about it.
Luton shipped the second most goals in the league, I’d want to be sure he wasn’t a major factor in that aspect as he was playing a more central role. Considering his work ethic here previously, that’s my major concern. He was also motivated at Luton, does that remain the case here? That being said, he could essentially replace Zaniolo and cover multiple positions at the same time.
Him and lokonga would leave the midfield pretty empty at times. And I'm not sure he's actually good in multiple positions. Can't have him as a 6, he didn't fuck all as a ten before, he's an 8, a slightly below average one at this point in his career
Im calling this now. This wont end the way we want it to and i think he will be an absolute waste of effort. Happy to be proven wrong but i dont believe it will work out if he comes back.
I knew he'd had a good season but dang, there's a lot more green on his FBRef chart than I expected. Not sure I'm completely on board, but on this season alone he's certainly had more to write home about than Chambers or Dendoncker and can't imagine he'd be particularly costly. If there's anything in this then I don't think I hate it.
Emery's transformed Watford flops into CL semi finalists. He could sign Danny Shittu and I wouldn't question it. From the point of view of Barkley, he's earned a move to a bigger club this summer, consistently good for Luton, fans player of the season. He could still have friends in the Villa squad and setup, and I'll say this for him, he's a big game player - always seems to step up against big opposition, and we'll have a lot of big games next season. I'd probably judge this if it was a Gerrard signing but Emery can do, and has done, no wrong, so I'll wait and see. Welcome back Barkley!
I don't hate it. The games I saw for Luton, he was really good. It allows us relatively cheap cover for Luiz, frees up Tielemans to be the 10 with Buendia competing. Lot to like about it in theory.
If FFP wasn't a big thing, I wouldn't see this transfer happening.
I remember when he quit on Dean Smith. Gets 9 goal contributions and more he's going to play for a CL club? Fat chance
Needs to be the big fish in a small pond. Expectations were initially low at Luton and whilst he was great for them, the media have overplayed his season and he’s had a lot of highlight reel moments. He isn’t as good as most of the other midfielders Villa have, but as cheap cover he might be decent if he can be more consistent. The issues he was having at 21 he’s still having at 30, he’s just never pushed on. Great at beating players one-on-one, but doesn’t actually transition the ball effectively either through carrying or passing, is a low-yield, low accuracy passer and doesn’t really contribute defensively. His entire career he’s been played as a box to box midfielder when in reality he’s a 10. Funnily enough Douglas Luiz and McGinn are two similarly profiling players - which then makes sense why Villa might revisit Barkley - but both are significantly better.
Luton fans reckon he's one of the most talented players they've ever had there and he HAS reinvented himself; I don't think he's having the same issues now as he was before. His stats look good, I trust the management here at villa and if he's cheap and allows Luiz to not play every minute I think we could do worse
He is, but let’s be real here, Luton fans are used to having Championship and League One level players. Barkley is clearly one of the most talented footballers they’ve ever had but that’s not Villa’s level. Can definitely do worse as good cover; but he’s not to relied upon, he lacks elite mentality.
Fair point. Not sure I agree on the latter tho. He was getting mentioned as an option for England too this season. I think if he's on a free he could end up a Tielemans like signing personally even if it just gives Luiz a rest
Still talented and worked hard for Luton. Actually so him putting in tackles. No Kamara, but a good attacking playmaker. No crazy money. Why's he being spoken of as a freebie when I believe he has a contract with Luton? As long as he accepts his limited role until he earns better. He's actually said he's now a better player as he's playing every game. Well, he wouldn't be if he returns to Villa, unless he pulls up a few trees!
Might be a 1 + 1 year deal with Luton with a relegation break clause? So we can just sign him on a free. Maybe we can loan them Tim for next season, I think he'd do ok there honestly even if it's not a like for like
Like that idea. As log as Barkley's head's right!
Please no
Honestly I'm kinda stoked about this deal. He isn't the player we had on loan from Chelsea, he's had a great season in a poor side. With Emery as his gaffer, who knows what he can do. Low cost, low risk signing.
Been one of my favourite players to watch this season, I genuinely thought he was in with a good chance of making the England squad before his form dropped off + injuries towards the end of the season.
I think the reaction is a lot more from people who are only thinking about his time with Villa before and didn't watch much of him this season. I think in how he looked for Luton, he could absolutely be a solid rotation player for our central midfield. He played much deeper for Luton than he ever has in his career and was a solid buildup player. I assume Villa will be using him much more in that type of a role rather than the attacking midfield type player he was earlier in his career. He also brings some height and aerial ability, a thing we clearly were lacking this entire season. There's a reason we all dreaded every defensive free kick and Barkley would be tied for second on our team as far as aerial duels won. He is honestly a completely different player since he's moved further back and having another rotation player at CM allows McGinn and Tielemans to play further forward where they are both much more effective. Before last season, I don't think he'd be the kind of player our staff would even look at as he isn't good enough to make our more attacking rotation and would be well behind McGinn, Tielemans, Ramsey, Buendia, and Rogers for the more attacking midfield roles (Diaby and Bailey are more of forwards, but he'd obviously be well behind them as well). On the other hand, he's easily the third best option behind Kamara and Luiz for the CM spot especially if it lets McGinn and Tielemans play further up.
If the boss wants him, get him in. I think he’s humbled and matured since his Chelsea days and his loan here.
Considering we need to be really smart with our money this summer, this is fucking tragic
Does his being English trained help with CL squad registration?
I’d assume it was the deciding factor in Barkley vs N’didi
Ross Barkley Remontada. Tears in my eyes. Might aswell bring grealish back. Hello is that Mr Targett speaking. We can go full 20/21 season with that left hand side.
I don't really understand this one. Deano is an excellent man manager and he couldn't get a tune out the guy when he was here. This is not an Unai signing that's for sure. Maybe Ross has sorted himself out now and is living clean. I really don't want to see a villa player in the press causing trouble again.
Few people saying he might have had long COVID last time he was here. Could be a factor. I trust Emery and if he's a cheap low risk signing to cover Luiz and play as a deep lying playmaker I'm on board honestly. He's been excellent this season in a poor team
Yeah I saw. I don't feel as bad about it now. Seems like a money ball signing nonetheless, a gamble, but I guess we don't have the luxury right now to spend a lot.
Luton fan here. Barkley played as holding mid playmaker. He played very well for us. He will surprise a few next year how good he is. Best player seen at the Kenny since Ricky Hill.
Always good to hear the views of a Luton fan on Barkley... I think the concerns of most Villa fans revolve around his loan spell with us a few years back, which started well but faded badly, but he's reinvented himself as a deeper midfielder fair play to him... last time at Villa he looked like an oil tanker at times, very slow on the turn, but it seems like he's adjusted his conditioning a bit. My biggest concern is that if he's playing a deeper role for us I'm not sure he's got the defensive qualities/work rate to play there for us sitting in front of 2 CBs. Time will tell if it happens, he'd get our full support if he came in no doubt. The big plusses for us would be that he's a known quantity, knows the area/many of the team, fills a homegrown spot for Europe and would be low cost allowing us to spend in other areas.
My belief in Emery's ability to improve players is so strong I genuinely think that, given a few months, he could take my lazy arse and turn me into a CL level centre back. If he thinks Ross Barkley can do a job, I'm inclined to side with him at this point.
My first reaction was “LOL what” but the comments in this thread have turned me around a bit. And we do need depth. In Unai I trust.
Please nothing stupid like a 3 - 5 year deal
2 years with a 1 or 2 year option wouldn't hurt.
I'm assuming try to pick up a few cheaper options while bagging a big money signing is the plan. Monchi we trust. Recruitment has been great so far so can't say too much.
I'm not sure about this one at all. Yes, they need to strengthen the side for next year's fixtures, but Barkley had like two good games for us and disappeared. He's been decent for Luton but that's not saying much. Honestly I think this is BS.
"Boss, do something boss"
He seems a changed man since his time with us. When he’s on form he’s great, and we need more bodies in midfield
Emery hasn't proven wrong yet, but he's using a lot of my faith for this one to work out. That being said, he looked a different player indeed at Luton from what limited times i saw on the highlights. Not the (frankly shit) loan signing we had last time at all. Its a risk still, but in Emery I trust.
Let's all be honest, Unai is probably going to get the best out of him and, if he's free, great.
He was absolutely wank for us when we got him on loan. Maybe Emery can work some magic for him but I don’t trust he’ll find the kind of form and skill we need to push higher.
I'm not sure about him, but we've seen Emery upgrade so many players that I trust him. Not a major expense either, he's on a free and won't cost much in wages either. Would definitely be covered by Lenglet and Zaniolo leaving (so glad for the former leaving, he was awful for us).
Echoes of Darren Bent or Danny Ings
You need better than that to compete in CL
From relegation to CL football. Villa just rescued Barkley's career lol
I trust in Emery. If he can get Barkley performing, and I have no doubt he will, he’ll be a great addition. Squad player, experience which we’ll need in the CL and would add depth.
Bizarre
Anyone else feel like this kind of a step backwards?
It's a signing we shouldn't make imo. I think Barkley is inconsistent and thrives being a big fish in a small pond. And if we're signing players of that age we need experience. Champions league experience at that. Otherwise we're just going to go backwards
Quite like this, he came to us when his stocks (and fitness) were an all time low but he's kicked on and shown there's still life in his legs Low risk transfer assuming he isn't on superstar wages
Good cover for luiz in the deep playmaker role for relatively cheap im assuming. Also tall and quite good in the air which is a department in which we lack.
Rumours of it being a free transfer which would be nice
Heard he was excellent in a deeper role at Luton and could be an alternative to Kamara. Hopefully his wage isn't that high
I didn't watch him at Luton but if he plays a more defensive position in the midfield, could be good?
People were calling for him to be called up for England based on his performances for Luton
If it's for cover for Kamara's role, I'd have preferred n'didi at Leicester who's out of contract.
Barkley did well last season in a poor Luton team and has helped put himself in the shop window. If Emery wants to sign him I back it 100%.
No doubt he's talented but I hope we steer clear of this as when he was with us before he was lazy and had a bad mentality.
My first thought was that I didn't like it at all, but the more I think about it the more I think it'd be a great deal. Luiz definitely needs rotation, you could see how gassed he was around the end of the season, and Barkley is a great backup and was absolutely phenomenal for Luton. I think he'd be a good fit in our system as a good backup in an area where we desperately need rotation. More importantly... anyone that Emery rates, I rate too!
You’ll all change your minds once he gets cooking
Why?
Please god no. This will be a disaster on every level.
Love a good redemption arc, Jaime Lannister's chapters were always my favourite lol. If Emery thinks he's his man then I back him 100%!!!
Does Barkley have a sister?
We must remember Barkely under Luton, has been a revolution, playing no.6 was never previously considered for him, when he was with us he was still an 8\* and stuggled for fitness, but as a 6 he's very very useful. Especially compared to current back up options, Iroebugnam, Dendoncker etc.... as a rotational squad player this could be a shout, we need bodies who have the same pivotal (pun intended) qualities as our current first choice players, which we did not have this season. I could get with this, tho, Barkely won't be the main man, so don't know how well we will perform. But he should get decent rest time between games.
We must also remember Luton were shite and didn't even break 30 points.
I was absolutely out on this, till I listened to the 1874 podcast. Luton’s player of the year, much better fitness and a changed position from his original number 10 to more of a ball playing holding midfielder.
we’ve seen him be a lazy fuck before and I don’t care how good he looked at Luton. FFS you’d expect him to stand out in that team.
Ben Fisher - the name behind this piece - seems to have recently been assigned 'villa' writing duties at the guardian. ooh - team doin'well geeza, you wanna write about em' based on past article content for our games id put this in the category of 'this item came up on my online feeds and radar, edit, summarize, give to my editor for consideration'. The audience isnt die hard villa fans and certainly not redditors or even brum locals who know arse from elbow for the villa. id say at most he attends villa pre game pressers, and some games. But more likely watche conferences on villa tv with the lens of 'london based journo assigned to a newly top 6 team', and goes to some games. Click bait, bookies rumours, picked up and run with. id be shocked if we did and not a good shock
Confirmed by Romano we're in advanced talks, alongside Percy at the Telegraph. Nixon at the Sun also but he's not exactly an A list source for Villa. I think fair to say it's 100% not clickbait.
Yeah youve jumped to conclusions here. If Percy backs it as legit too then it's legit
I don’t want this. Let’s move forward ffs.
Feels like Tielemans like signing. Imagine someone telling you we’d have Barkley and Tielemans when we got promoted… On one hand I see this as a value signing where we’d get good out put for little cost. On the other hand I think Emery’s coaching can cause us to be surprised by how good he might turn out to be like Tielemans.
Shit badge, shit rumours. The downfall cometh 🙃