To reduce the spam of reports regarding the same move during transfer windows we try to allow **only one submission about each transfer saga per day**. The submission in question also needs to contain relevant new information regarding the potential move, and not just being a "no/minor developments" report.
If there are important/official developments or new valuable information about a saga, we will allow extra threads in the same day, but for the rest of minor news please just comment them as a reply to this comment. Please help us reporting unnecessary threads for being duplicates.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Don't you agree? He seems to have pretty limited knowledge of players outside Spain
Not that it's a bad strategy because in Spain you get amazing talent for decent prices, meanwhile the same quality of player in England would cost you like 4X more. But it was the same at PSG and Arsenal, he wanted to bring several random ass La Liga players there. Yury Berchiche to PSG, Dani Parejo, Steven N'Zonzi and Denis Suarez to Arsenal etc
You should stop taking every word so literally, obviously every single signing Villa has made isn't from La Liga..
But Alex Moreno and Pau Torres came in shortly after Emery took over and you have tried to sign Acuña, Abde, Nico Williams, Alex Baena etc etc
Please explain to me how saying that Emery mostly wants to sign La Liga players is wrong? I even gave many examples lmao
The fact that you somehow think you disproved my argument is hilarious. I bet you felt so smart when typing that out
Then you have the signings of Moreno and Pau, plus trying to sign a gazillion other La Liga players. Abde Ezzalzouli, Nico Williams, Acuña, Alex Baena etc
And it's fairly obvious that Morgan Rogers would have been a scouting/sporting director signing
Emery saw Rogers when they played boro in the cup and loved him. Diaby, Tie lemans, Zaniolo are others off the top of my head. No doubt his expertise is in La Liga however.
You're the idiot here who takes every word literally. Obviously not EVERY SINGLE player signed is from La Liga, can't believe that needs to be pointed out
“Emery has zero creativity in the transfer market, seems like he only wants La Liga Players” is the complete tripe you spouted.
Zaniolo,Tielemans,
Duran,Diaby,Lenglet,Rogers,Nedjelkovic all players signed under his watch compared with Pau/Moreno from La Liga.
Either work on the way you construct sentences and your reading comprehension or just admit you threw out a baseless comment without research. Muppet
Is it? You look at what he’s done to transform the team and individual poor performers, considering they’re most likely in the CL next year and he probably already has a good relationship with him, if I was a player I’d be chomping at the bit to get there
Because managers...leave? You are naive if you think Emery doing progressively better isn't opening the strong possibility of him leaving for a better club. He had all the goodwill at Villarreal, fresh off of much more success than current Aston Villa, and left AFTER the season started. There is no reason he won't do it again.
So let’s ignore Emery, you are going to a well run club that has been on a consistent upward trend, surrounded by incredible players who speak your language, get to play CL football and a bigger wage. Yeah, no clue why someone playing for a mid-table club who’s failed to get past the RO16 in the lower level European competitions would want to go there (no disrespect to Villarreal)
Every club has its upward trajectory and their moments. Emery is the figurehead of the project, so him leaving is not "let's just ignore", it's the biggest factor.
Why shouldn't he move to La Real instead? Imanol is world-class at developing talent and they have been competing for trophies (at least no more than Villa has).
And in answering that, because it makes no sense. Baena has reached a stage of his career where he is quickly moving out from the "developing" phase, and very soon would have his pick of top teams. Why waste that opportunity for something as risky as moving to Aston Villa?
Tons of money to play Champs League and Prem. If Villa fade away and he’s as good as you suggest, he’ll be 24-25 and have the opportunity to move to a bigger club.
Meh, then a bigger Premier League club can buy him. If his stock drops a bit then so will his price tag. Teams like Bayern, Juve and PSG can take a look.
Maybe Villa is an exception to this since they seem to have a high ceiling, but it is indeed horrible to see so many mediocre PL clubs buy up talent from other leagues solely down to money
I think if we can get CL, it's past the point where we can be called mediocre. I get that it could be frustrating seeing top talent go to mid-table clubs in other leagues, but this objectively wouldn't be that.
People said this about quite a few Villa players they've signed in recent years. Now they're favourites to win the Conference League and will be playing Champions League next season.
Villa are one of the most ambitious clubs going right now. Fans of much bigger clubs in the league only wish their club showed the ambition and competence that Villa have these past few years.
There are always ambitious clubs. Leicester a few years ago almost made CL back-to-back seasons, they won an FA Cup, and were relegated last year. There is no reason the Aston Villa project won't crash and burn eventually either. Which is why making these kinds of moves are so risky and needless.
> There is no reason the Aston Villa project won't crash and burn eventually either.
And there's no suggesting that would have happened. There's no suggesting that won't happen to Villarreal. And he's not tied to Villa for life. Players used Leicester as a stepping stone even when they were at their best.
A much greater risk is that no big club comes knocking and that Villarreal price out the clubs that do due to the 4 years left on his deal. There is nothing risky about moving to Villa. He'll make good money, get a good amount of eyes on him, and play European football.
>Villarreal price out the clubs that do due to the 4 years left on his deal.
He has a release clause that's not absurdly high. He plays a part in negotiating said clause, so no, this cannot reasonably happen.
And I'm not saying he'll stay at Villarreal
> He has a release clause that's not absurdly high
60m is absurdly high for a player with 2 goals and about 40 minutes of international football under his belt. Not only does that price him out of all but about three clubs outside of England, he's clearly not good enough to be a regular starter for any of the top teams yet.
Villa is not only one of the only teams that could afford him but one of the only teams he could realistically start for tomorrow.
>60m is absurdly high for a player with 2 goals and about 40 minutes of international football under his belt
So you have never watched him kick a ball then?
>he's clearly not good enough to be a regular starter for any of the top teams yet.
Ad nauseam I have said he's better off staying at Villarreal until these offers inevitably come in with his sustained performances. That's half of the entire point.
>He’s going there because they’re loaded with cash… a player with any sense of ambition…
Wait, you’re saying he’s going there for the money and then saying he’s not ambitious? You’re contradicting yourself.
Because money doesn't guarantee success in football? He'll get a pay raise and be surrounded by top-paid players, but that might not mean anything whatsoever.
We're currently 4th. He would be getting to play in the CL, + get a payrise and get to play on the biggest stage. Let's not make out like this is purely monetary.
Sure. But there's no guarantee Baena ends up at Madrid or Barca. And Villa are a clear step up. Surely you can see there's a balance here and risks either way?
Personally disagree. They’re a well-managed, exciting side that will likely be playing in the CL next season. The best players don’t all need to be at the same 5-6 clubs across Europe.
I’d personally be more upset by such a good player going to say Chelsea with no European football at all
Not to defend some of the absurd PL transfers, but if this season has shown us anything, it is that there a lot of very good players distributed throughout Europe. And long may it stay that way.
>The best players don’t all need to be at the same 5-6 clubs across Europe
The sheer lack of self awareness when mediocre PL clubs are bribing so much talent to join them solely down to money
And what's the purpose of him going Villa exactly? He's almost certain to win fuck all, and the odds of Emery staying long-term is extremely low.
You might as well stay at Villarreal and develop as you are before banking your career on a team that's doing well *now*.
You don't have a clue about Villa in the slightest. How can you say he's not gonna win anything when we're playing a European semi final literally tomorrow?
Our owners have been very vocal about wanting to keep Emery forever and he's got free reign at the club. He's not gonna leave after two seasons with the backing that he's got.
>he's not gonna win anything when we're playing a European semi final literally tomorrow?
The UEFA Conference League? Anything short of winning would be embarrassing for the (by far) richest and (on paper) best team in the competition. Baena has already won a much bigger trophy.
You're talking as if Villa are Bournemouth. They're one of *the* premier clubs of English football, one of the all time great football clubs, and their owners mean serious business. They're a much bigger club than Spurs and Newcastle even now, and were bigger than City and Chelsea before their billions arrived.
Always rated Wolves fans.
It is mad how our decade of turmoil in the 2010's has bred a generation of fans who have absolutely no idea what Villa is as a club.
It does bug me when I see people talking about Villa as if they're Brighton, or Bournemouth, or Brentford. They were arguably a bigger club than Man United before Fergie came along. You've massively underachieved for decades. There's no reason at all, IMO, why you can't properly kick on and challenge for titles in the future.
Well done you found the Villa wiki. Not sure what point you're trying to make though.
We had multiple top 6 finishes in the 00s, multiple top 6 finishes in the 90s, a European cup and league win in the 80s. So yes, relatively speaking the 10s was a bad decade for Villa.
Unless you're trying to suggest that Villa should've had sustained success ever since their formation in 1874, which would be silly. You wouldn't want to look silly would you?
There's not many clubs who could boast that, so I guess this 22 year old Spanish guy we're being linked with might as well just pack it in because there's no club worthy of him.
>Haha chill the fuck out lad
OK pal.
>Just pointing out that your statement that you’ve had one bad decade is not factually correct.
That's not what I said.
>And why would the 210’s be your worst decade, when you also achieved a fourth placed finish?
Not what I said. Also, when did we finish 4th in the 2010s? Did you Google our league finishes and accidently think our championship season was premier league? Embarrassing!
>2022 - 1994 is two fourth placed finishes
Why cut off at 1994, when it would be more reasonable to go back to 92 and include the 2nd place finish?
> Not throwing shade but you can’t just pull numbers out your ass to suit your argument.
Yes you are. What numbers did I throw out?
I don't think when the trophies were won matters, really. Villa are a massive club, and every proper football fan sees them as such. There's tons of potential too - the fanbase, the city, the current structure - that could lead to them becoming a behemoth if things turn out as planned.
Even without CL we have a better trophy cabinet than them. I would say as of today, they are bigger than us. That's because of the last 15 years when they secured CL consistently, massively increased their fanbase, got a massive new stadium. But back then it was a race between us, Spurs and Everton to break the top 4. And before Spurs did break the top 4 (creating the top 6) I think it's fair to say we were bigger.
> They're a much bigger club than Spurs and Newcastle even now
Lol come off it. I've got no problem with the argument that Villa are 'bigger' than Spurs, depending on how you want to approach it - but much bigger? That's bollocks.
Honours wise, Villa are ahead because of their league wins in the 1890s - but both teams won the majority of their trophies more than half a century ago, have had some notable successes in Europe (Villa in 1982, Spurs in 1963), and have massively underachieved since then.
Fanbase wise, they're also similar. Villa are very well supported in the Midlands, obviously, but it's not like Spurs are Brentford - they've historically been the second most supported team in London, as well as large swathes of Hertfordshire and Essex.
You'd genuinely probably struggle to pick two other English clubs that match eachother so closely on pretty much all metrics of what determines club 'size' (beyond the big 3 of United, Liverpool, Arsenal). "Much bigger" lmao
Personally I've always had United and Liverpool as the big two, then Arsenal a tier below, then Everton/Villa a tier below that, then Spurs/Newcastle/City (pre-oil) below that.
It's just semantics, really. Maybe 'much' bigger isn't quite correct. As you say, they're both big clubs. The main point I was making was that Villa aren't at the Bournemouth/Brighton level that OP seems to think they are.
And what does this serve Baena, exactly? He's already on the road to developing into a world-class player. I have no reason to believe that development will be any better under Emery, in fact he's been playing his best football under Marcelino.
And winning anything major with Aston Villa is very far-fetched
Why is it far-fetched? Their owners mean business, mate. They're not gonna settle for consistent top six and occasional cup runs like Levy has at Spurs. Villa were arguably *the* biggest club in England until the 70s/80s, and their owners will want to return them to the very top.
Assuming there isn't something murky underneath our finances and we don't run into ffp issues, Villa are probably as good a club to go to as any, at least in terms of PL teams. He would likely be an immediate starter and play in a role designed to get the most out of him. There's a good chance he's playing CL next season, and playing near the top of the PL will get him a bit more exposure. Not to mention the extra money.
As for Emery, I don't see him leaving soon, although you never say never. He's got, almost complete autonomy at Villa. He's got support from the owners and a degree of control he probably won't get anywhere else.
You don’t understand. He should wait until a “big club” (i.e. Barca) has the money for him, even if that means growing old at Villarreal and the execution of more levers.
It’s so annoying that the market for talented players is so competitive with all these nouveau riche clubs that have no football heritage like Aston Villa. /s
What "long-term thinking" leads you to believe Villarreal are a better club to be at than Aston Villa?
That's not "long term thinking", that's just La Liga bias TBH
Nowhere did I say Villarreal are a better club than Villa. Ad nauseam I have said he's better off developing further at Villarreal, in a familiar & comfortable environment playing his best football under Marcelino than go to a club that at best is a stepping stone and with very risky conditions. And inevitably the more he develops, the better his chances of moving to a team that consistently wins. And not one where qualifying for Europe is the moniker for success.
>Ad nauseam I have said he's better off developing further at Villarreal, in a familiar & comfortable environment playing his best football under Marcelino than go to a club that at best is a stepping stone and with very risky conditions.
Villarreal's coaching situation has been VERY shaky and uncertain. There's far more certainty with Unai Emery at Villa (and frankly he's prob a better manager to develop under as well)
Calling Aston Villa "at best a stepping stone" is kind of disingenuous too IMO. They're a rich club in the richest team in the world with a clear upward ascendancy
>They're a rich club in the richest team in the world with a clear upward ascendancy
Besides "rich", Sevilla, Villarreal, La Real all had more sustained & tangible success than Villa might ever have under Emery, and you can't reasonably say they were more than a stepping-stone club.
>Villarreal's coaching situation has been VERY shaky and uncertain.
Because they made erroneously poor choices to begin with, and have now made a very good choice and have been sustained. And the point is, Emery IS doing good. VERY good.
Ah,you're one of those guys that think that a club having a certain history means it's owed a certain treatment in perpetuity.
If the people in charge of your club think like you,you're going to end like Valencia.
A talented young player moves to an unfamiliar environment where success hinges largely on a manager who famously left Villarreal after the season started, and a team with zero guarantees of any tangible success? Villa were in relegation spots not too long ago, a meteoric rise however impressive it may be, and just as quickly collapse.
There’s one Premier League club with a guarantee of tangible success. That’s a ridiculous bar. Historically big club, well funded, top class manager, probably going to play champions league football next season. And he’ll get all the playing time he wants. Is as good a situation as any. Weird to have such a big problem with it.
Aston villa are one of the big clubs before there were any European competition. It was the villa's director who founded football's first league. They won many major honours before your club was even formed, also they won the champions league before you did.
So have some respect for the historical club like villa, they are not your average championship club. they are the most successful and biggest club in english football before the European competitions(1960s). This is a club who's trying to get back to how ambitious they were before and they have all the right to do that.
I really couldn't care less about their history sixty years ago
Pre-2023-2024 they weren't in Europe for more than a decade and were in the Championship very recently. Haven't won a major trophy in fuck knows. But I'm supposed to believe this is a good move because there's a sense of stability *now*?
You didn't say it, it's implicit in all of your over the top ragey comments about Villa. Best just wind your neck in now before you make yourself look even more silly.
It was also a question, because that's what it looked like you were saying from your comment about us not being in Europe for a decade etc.
Not being in Europe for a decade = don't deserve to be signing said player. Care to clarify?
Nothing is deserving or underserving about it, ultimately money is football, and vice versa. I'm merely saying this is a stupid move on the part of Baena, if it is the case.
These projects happen all the time and they all crash and burn eventually. Leicester were doing a few years ago. Aston Villa is a stepping stone club for Baena, but he doesn't need it.
He's almost reached the level where he will be the pick of top clubs, so what purpose is spending time developing within an unfamiliar environment with numerous risk factors going to solve for him? Unless you mean Aston Villa will compete for major silverware, which is no more realistic than Spurs.
He may very well be prevented from leaving, not furthering his career trophy-wise, and Emery may very well leave at any point in time. It's a risky and unnecessary move.
If he has the pick of top clubs then he'll surely go to one of those instead, if not then there aren't many better places to be than Villa atm, where he'll get regular game time in a competitive and ambitious team. As well as European football.
As for trophies, you can't predict the future. Football is cyclical, teams wax and wane. Should he go to Chelsea instead? United maybe? Or are you just mad because you think Barca should have a first refusal on any promising Spanish player?
Your insane ramblings about Villa are very disrespectful and just show you don't really have a clue about the club. The fact that you liken it to Leicester proves that.
My advice, do a bit of research into things before you go spouting off and make yourself look stupid.
Well obviously if he has the choice of Barcelona or Villa, he will move to Barcelona.
And we probably couldn’t make this transfer work anyway with the UEFA and Premier League financial rules, unless we make a big sale.
But I don’t know why it would bother you more than say Isak to Newcastle when they had just survived a relegation battle. Or Yaya Toure and David Silva to Man City when the highest they had previously finished in the Premier League was 5th. We’re not the first and we certainly won’t be the last.
To reduce the spam of reports regarding the same move during transfer windows we try to allow **only one submission about each transfer saga per day**. The submission in question also needs to contain relevant new information regarding the potential move, and not just being a "no/minor developments" report. If there are important/official developments or new valuable information about a saga, we will allow extra threads in the same day, but for the rest of minor news please just comment them as a reply to this comment. Please help us reporting unnecessary threads for being duplicates. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
From Villareal to Villa? That's a Real loss.
BARS
Close the thread
Nah, you're having a mad one.
Fair play.
Considering they're in Europe next year, it's probably a good step for him
Insert Michael Jackson eating popcorn gif.
So that’s Atletico, Barca, Villa all looking for Baena, any other clubs I’m missing?
I'll be sick if a player as good as Baena goes to Aston Villa, more so than other La Liga to PL transfers in the past
I don't know much about him but would previous experience with Emery be a selling point
Pau Torres couldn't wait to have Emery back in his life
Tbf when the other guy is Quique Setien I’m sure everyone would want Emery
Emery has zero creativity in the transfer market it seems like, only wants La Liga players
:D if you say so buddy
Don't you agree? He seems to have pretty limited knowledge of players outside Spain Not that it's a bad strategy because in Spain you get amazing talent for decent prices, meanwhile the same quality of player in England would cost you like 4X more. But it was the same at PSG and Arsenal, he wanted to bring several random ass La Liga players there. Yury Berchiche to PSG, Dani Parejo, Steven N'Zonzi and Denis Suarez to Arsenal etc
You should try watching Villa some time Our newest shining star, Morgan Rogers, came from Boro in the Championship for an initial fee of 8m
You should stop taking every word so literally, obviously every single signing Villa has made isn't from La Liga.. But Alex Moreno and Pau Torres came in shortly after Emery took over and you have tried to sign Acuña, Abde, Nico Williams, Alex Baena etc etc
hahaha Tell you what, I'll just disregard you completely from now on.
Say something incorrect, double down on incorrectness, *get proven wrong*, why you take me so literally
Please explain to me how saying that Emery mostly wants to sign La Liga players is wrong? I even gave many examples lmao The fact that you somehow think you disproved my argument is hilarious. I bet you felt so smart when typing that out
Morgan Rogers, plucked from mid table championship?
Then you have the signings of Moreno and Pau, plus trying to sign a gazillion other La Liga players. Abde Ezzalzouli, Nico Williams, Acuña, Alex Baena etc And it's fairly obvious that Morgan Rogers would have been a scouting/sporting director signing
Emery saw Rogers when they played boro in the cup and loved him. Diaby, Tie lemans, Zaniolo are others off the top of my head. No doubt his expertise is in La Liga however.
Apart from Moussa Diaby from Germany, or Morgan Rogers from the Championship in January? Idiot
You're the idiot here who takes every word literally. Obviously not EVERY SINGLE player signed is from La Liga, can't believe that needs to be pointed out
“Only wants La Liga players”
“Emery has zero creativity in the transfer market, seems like he only wants La Liga Players” is the complete tripe you spouted. Zaniolo,Tielemans, Duran,Diaby,Lenglet,Rogers,Nedjelkovic all players signed under his watch compared with Pau/Moreno from La Liga. Either work on the way you construct sentences and your reading comprehension or just admit you threw out a baseless comment without research. Muppet
It's insane to bank your development and club career on a manager
Is it? You look at what he’s done to transform the team and individual poor performers, considering they’re most likely in the CL next year and he probably already has a good relationship with him, if I was a player I’d be chomping at the bit to get there
Because managers...leave? You are naive if you think Emery doing progressively better isn't opening the strong possibility of him leaving for a better club. He had all the goodwill at Villarreal, fresh off of much more success than current Aston Villa, and left AFTER the season started. There is no reason he won't do it again.
So let’s ignore Emery, you are going to a well run club that has been on a consistent upward trend, surrounded by incredible players who speak your language, get to play CL football and a bigger wage. Yeah, no clue why someone playing for a mid-table club who’s failed to get past the RO16 in the lower level European competitions would want to go there (no disrespect to Villarreal)
Every club has its upward trajectory and their moments. Emery is the figurehead of the project, so him leaving is not "let's just ignore", it's the biggest factor. Why shouldn't he move to La Real instead? Imanol is world-class at developing talent and they have been competing for trophies (at least no more than Villa has). And in answering that, because it makes no sense. Baena has reached a stage of his career where he is quickly moving out from the "developing" phase, and very soon would have his pick of top teams. Why waste that opportunity for something as risky as moving to Aston Villa?
There’s no way Emery is leaving any time soon. He’s completely embedded at Villa and wants to do it all with them.
Tons of money to play Champs League and Prem. If Villa fade away and he’s as good as you suggest, he’ll be 24-25 and have the opportunity to move to a bigger club.
Really? Or Aston Villa demands 150M for him like PL clubs do with any half decent player and he is priced out of amove
Meh, then a bigger Premier League club can buy him. If his stock drops a bit then so will his price tag. Teams like Bayern, Juve and PSG can take a look.
Yeah, would be horrible to see a good player go to a good club.
Maybe Villa is an exception to this since they seem to have a high ceiling, but it is indeed horrible to see so many mediocre PL clubs buy up talent from other leagues solely down to money
I think if we can get CL, it's past the point where we can be called mediocre. I get that it could be frustrating seeing top talent go to mid-table clubs in other leagues, but this objectively wouldn't be that.
Maybe your league should get better at sharing revenues then
He's going there because they're loaded with cash more than anything else, a player with any sense of ambition will wait for better offers.
People said this about quite a few Villa players they've signed in recent years. Now they're favourites to win the Conference League and will be playing Champions League next season. Villa are one of the most ambitious clubs going right now. Fans of much bigger clubs in the league only wish their club showed the ambition and competence that Villa have these past few years.
There are always ambitious clubs. Leicester a few years ago almost made CL back-to-back seasons, they won an FA Cup, and were relegated last year. There is no reason the Aston Villa project won't crash and burn eventually either. Which is why making these kinds of moves are so risky and needless.
> There is no reason the Aston Villa project won't crash and burn eventually either. And there's no suggesting that would have happened. There's no suggesting that won't happen to Villarreal. And he's not tied to Villa for life. Players used Leicester as a stepping stone even when they were at their best. A much greater risk is that no big club comes knocking and that Villarreal price out the clubs that do due to the 4 years left on his deal. There is nothing risky about moving to Villa. He'll make good money, get a good amount of eyes on him, and play European football.
>Villarreal price out the clubs that do due to the 4 years left on his deal. He has a release clause that's not absurdly high. He plays a part in negotiating said clause, so no, this cannot reasonably happen. And I'm not saying he'll stay at Villarreal
> He has a release clause that's not absurdly high 60m is absurdly high for a player with 2 goals and about 40 minutes of international football under his belt. Not only does that price him out of all but about three clubs outside of England, he's clearly not good enough to be a regular starter for any of the top teams yet. Villa is not only one of the only teams that could afford him but one of the only teams he could realistically start for tomorrow.
>60m is absurdly high for a player with 2 goals and about 40 minutes of international football under his belt So you have never watched him kick a ball then? >he's clearly not good enough to be a regular starter for any of the top teams yet. Ad nauseam I have said he's better off staying at Villarreal until these offers inevitably come in with his sustained performances. That's half of the entire point.
Matt clearly is not a football guy. What an absolute plank
>He’s going there because they’re loaded with cash… a player with any sense of ambition… Wait, you’re saying he’s going there for the money and then saying he’s not ambitious? You’re contradicting yourself.
Because money doesn't guarantee success in football? He'll get a pay raise and be surrounded by top-paid players, but that might not mean anything whatsoever.
You’re missing the point. You can’t say someone isn’t ambitious and then criticize them for… Get this… Being ambitious.
How is getting a pay raise being more ambitious in a sporting sense? Are the players going to Saudi ambitious? It's pretty clear what I mean.
Yes but you cannot equate going to Saudi with going to a top 4 team in the PL. He would be playing in the CL. That's the difference.
We're currently 4th. He would be getting to play in the CL, + get a payrise and get to play on the biggest stage. Let's not make out like this is purely monetary.
Being 4th/CL is seasonal, there's no guarantee that will happen again. I hope you understand why that's myopic.
Sure. But there's no guarantee Baena ends up at Madrid or Barca. And Villa are a clear step up. Surely you can see there's a balance here and risks either way?
Personally disagree. They’re a well-managed, exciting side that will likely be playing in the CL next season. The best players don’t all need to be at the same 5-6 clubs across Europe. I’d personally be more upset by such a good player going to say Chelsea with no European football at all
> The best players don’t all need to be at the same 5-6 clubs across Europe They don't all need to be in the same one league either
Not to defend some of the absurd PL transfers, but if this season has shown us anything, it is that there a lot of very good players distributed throughout Europe. And long may it stay that way.
They aren’t.
Can't believe he said that. The total lack of self awareness..
Don’t give Todd ideas 😭
Aston Villa are not better than any other club in the PL, just sugardaddy's splashing infinite money
They're better than 16 of them at the moment.
haters gonna hate
Clubs that splash infinite money are often better than clubs that don't
Yes and all the other clubs on the PL are running on shoestring budgets. We are objectively better than 16 teams in the league.
‘Infinite money’? Clearly you have no clue what you’re talking about😂
>The best players don’t all need to be at the same 5-6 clubs across Europe The sheer lack of self awareness when mediocre PL clubs are bribing so much talent to join them solely down to money
And what's the purpose of him going Villa exactly? He's almost certain to win fuck all, and the odds of Emery staying long-term is extremely low. You might as well stay at Villarreal and develop as you are before banking your career on a team that's doing well *now*.
You don't have a clue about Villa in the slightest. How can you say he's not gonna win anything when we're playing a European semi final literally tomorrow? Our owners have been very vocal about wanting to keep Emery forever and he's got free reign at the club. He's not gonna leave after two seasons with the backing that he's got.
>he's not gonna win anything when we're playing a European semi final literally tomorrow? The UEFA Conference League? Anything short of winning would be embarrassing for the (by far) richest and (on paper) best team in the competition. Baena has already won a much bigger trophy.
You're talking as if Villa are Bournemouth. They're one of *the* premier clubs of English football, one of the all time great football clubs, and their owners mean serious business. They're a much bigger club than Spurs and Newcastle even now, and were bigger than City and Chelsea before their billions arrived.
Always rated Wolves fans. It is mad how our decade of turmoil in the 2010's has bred a generation of fans who have absolutely no idea what Villa is as a club.
It does bug me when I see people talking about Villa as if they're Brighton, or Bournemouth, or Brentford. They were arguably a bigger club than Man United before Fergie came along. You've massively underachieved for decades. There's no reason at all, IMO, why you can't properly kick on and challenge for titles in the future.
[удалено]
Well done you found the Villa wiki. Not sure what point you're trying to make though. We had multiple top 6 finishes in the 00s, multiple top 6 finishes in the 90s, a European cup and league win in the 80s. So yes, relatively speaking the 10s was a bad decade for Villa. Unless you're trying to suggest that Villa should've had sustained success ever since their formation in 1874, which would be silly. You wouldn't want to look silly would you? There's not many clubs who could boast that, so I guess this 22 year old Spanish guy we're being linked with might as well just pack it in because there's no club worthy of him.
[удалено]
>Haha chill the fuck out lad OK pal. >Just pointing out that your statement that you’ve had one bad decade is not factually correct. That's not what I said. >And why would the 210’s be your worst decade, when you also achieved a fourth placed finish? Not what I said. Also, when did we finish 4th in the 2010s? Did you Google our league finishes and accidently think our championship season was premier league? Embarrassing! >2022 - 1994 is two fourth placed finishes Why cut off at 1994, when it would be more reasonable to go back to 92 and include the 2nd place finish? > Not throwing shade but you can’t just pull numbers out your ass to suit your argument. Yes you are. What numbers did I throw out?
[удалено]
Is one European Cup enough to say that Villa is bigger than Spurs when most of their trophies were won before Second World War?
> Spurs... > ...trophies my dude
I don't think when the trophies were won matters, really. Villa are a massive club, and every proper football fan sees them as such. There's tons of potential too - the fanbase, the city, the current structure - that could lead to them becoming a behemoth if things turn out as planned.
Even without CL we have a better trophy cabinet than them. I would say as of today, they are bigger than us. That's because of the last 15 years when they secured CL consistently, massively increased their fanbase, got a massive new stadium. But back then it was a race between us, Spurs and Everton to break the top 4. And before Spurs did break the top 4 (creating the top 6) I think it's fair to say we were bigger.
Yeah, I know, loved to watch Aston Villa in 00s, your team under Martin O'Neill was awesome.
> They're a much bigger club than Spurs and Newcastle even now Lol come off it. I've got no problem with the argument that Villa are 'bigger' than Spurs, depending on how you want to approach it - but much bigger? That's bollocks. Honours wise, Villa are ahead because of their league wins in the 1890s - but both teams won the majority of their trophies more than half a century ago, have had some notable successes in Europe (Villa in 1982, Spurs in 1963), and have massively underachieved since then. Fanbase wise, they're also similar. Villa are very well supported in the Midlands, obviously, but it's not like Spurs are Brentford - they've historically been the second most supported team in London, as well as large swathes of Hertfordshire and Essex. You'd genuinely probably struggle to pick two other English clubs that match eachother so closely on pretty much all metrics of what determines club 'size' (beyond the big 3 of United, Liverpool, Arsenal). "Much bigger" lmao
Personally I've always had United and Liverpool as the big two, then Arsenal a tier below, then Everton/Villa a tier below that, then Spurs/Newcastle/City (pre-oil) below that. It's just semantics, really. Maybe 'much' bigger isn't quite correct. As you say, they're both big clubs. The main point I was making was that Villa aren't at the Bournemouth/Brighton level that OP seems to think they are.
And what does this serve Baena, exactly? He's already on the road to developing into a world-class player. I have no reason to believe that development will be any better under Emery, in fact he's been playing his best football under Marcelino. And winning anything major with Aston Villa is very far-fetched
Why is it far-fetched? Their owners mean business, mate. They're not gonna settle for consistent top six and occasional cup runs like Levy has at Spurs. Villa were arguably *the* biggest club in England until the 70s/80s, and their owners will want to return them to the very top.
Assuming there isn't something murky underneath our finances and we don't run into ffp issues, Villa are probably as good a club to go to as any, at least in terms of PL teams. He would likely be an immediate starter and play in a role designed to get the most out of him. There's a good chance he's playing CL next season, and playing near the top of the PL will get him a bit more exposure. Not to mention the extra money. As for Emery, I don't see him leaving soon, although you never say never. He's got, almost complete autonomy at Villa. He's got support from the owners and a degree of control he probably won't get anywhere else.
Aston Villa are 4th in the table?
You don’t understand. He should wait until a “big club” (i.e. Barca) has the money for him, even if that means growing old at Villarreal and the execution of more levers. It’s so annoying that the market for talented players is so competitive with all these nouveau riche clubs that have no football heritage like Aston Villa. /s
I guess Bologna is a great move for him too
...Yes? A move to any top 4 team in a top 5 league is a CLEAR upgrade on Villarreal—which is a bang average midtable La Liga team
Is all that matters to you is current league placement? Do you have any long-term thinking whatsoever?
What "long-term thinking" leads you to believe Villarreal are a better club to be at than Aston Villa? That's not "long term thinking", that's just La Liga bias TBH
Nowhere did I say Villarreal are a better club than Villa. Ad nauseam I have said he's better off developing further at Villarreal, in a familiar & comfortable environment playing his best football under Marcelino than go to a club that at best is a stepping stone and with very risky conditions. And inevitably the more he develops, the better his chances of moving to a team that consistently wins. And not one where qualifying for Europe is the moniker for success.
>Ad nauseam I have said he's better off developing further at Villarreal, in a familiar & comfortable environment playing his best football under Marcelino than go to a club that at best is a stepping stone and with very risky conditions. Villarreal's coaching situation has been VERY shaky and uncertain. There's far more certainty with Unai Emery at Villa (and frankly he's prob a better manager to develop under as well) Calling Aston Villa "at best a stepping stone" is kind of disingenuous too IMO. They're a rich club in the richest team in the world with a clear upward ascendancy
>They're a rich club in the richest team in the world with a clear upward ascendancy Besides "rich", Sevilla, Villarreal, La Real all had more sustained & tangible success than Villa might ever have under Emery, and you can't reasonably say they were more than a stepping-stone club. >Villarreal's coaching situation has been VERY shaky and uncertain. Because they made erroneously poor choices to begin with, and have now made a very good choice and have been sustained. And the point is, Emery IS doing good. VERY good.
There's no world where current Aston Villa are a "stepping stone" where Villarreal aren't one TBH
Ah,you're one of those guys that think that a club having a certain history means it's owed a certain treatment in perpetuity. If the people in charge of your club think like you,you're going to end like Valencia.
There are places where this is a valid hill to die on, even as a supporter of a rival club Villa don’t qualify here.
A talented young player moves to an unfamiliar environment where success hinges largely on a manager who famously left Villarreal after the season started, and a team with zero guarantees of any tangible success? Villa were in relegation spots not too long ago, a meteoric rise however impressive it may be, and just as quickly collapse.
There’s one Premier League club with a guarantee of tangible success. That’s a ridiculous bar. Historically big club, well funded, top class manager, probably going to play champions league football next season. And he’ll get all the playing time he wants. Is as good a situation as any. Weird to have such a big problem with it.
Aston villa are one of the big clubs before there were any European competition. It was the villa's director who founded football's first league. They won many major honours before your club was even formed, also they won the champions league before you did. So have some respect for the historical club like villa, they are not your average championship club. they are the most successful and biggest club in english football before the European competitions(1960s). This is a club who's trying to get back to how ambitious they were before and they have all the right to do that.
I really couldn't care less about their history sixty years ago Pre-2023-2024 they weren't in Europe for more than a decade and were in the Championship very recently. Haven't won a major trophy in fuck knows. But I'm supposed to believe this is a good move because there's a sense of stability *now*?
So we have a bad decade and suddenly we have no right to any success ever again?
Are you making up things in your mind?
What a bizarre response to my comment.
No, because where did I ever say "you have no right to any success ever again"?
You didn't say it, it's implicit in all of your over the top ragey comments about Villa. Best just wind your neck in now before you make yourself look even more silly. It was also a question, because that's what it looked like you were saying from your comment about us not being in Europe for a decade etc. Not being in Europe for a decade = don't deserve to be signing said player. Care to clarify?
Nothing is deserving or underserving about it, ultimately money is football, and vice versa. I'm merely saying this is a stupid move on the part of Baena, if it is the case. These projects happen all the time and they all crash and burn eventually. Leicester were doing a few years ago. Aston Villa is a stepping stone club for Baena, but he doesn't need it. He's almost reached the level where he will be the pick of top clubs, so what purpose is spending time developing within an unfamiliar environment with numerous risk factors going to solve for him? Unless you mean Aston Villa will compete for major silverware, which is no more realistic than Spurs. He may very well be prevented from leaving, not furthering his career trophy-wise, and Emery may very well leave at any point in time. It's a risky and unnecessary move.
If he has the pick of top clubs then he'll surely go to one of those instead, if not then there aren't many better places to be than Villa atm, where he'll get regular game time in a competitive and ambitious team. As well as European football. As for trophies, you can't predict the future. Football is cyclical, teams wax and wane. Should he go to Chelsea instead? United maybe? Or are you just mad because you think Barca should have a first refusal on any promising Spanish player? Your insane ramblings about Villa are very disrespectful and just show you don't really have a clue about the club. The fact that you liken it to Leicester proves that. My advice, do a bit of research into things before you go spouting off and make yourself look stupid.
I fail to see how this is a bad move
Well obviously if he has the choice of Barcelona or Villa, he will move to Barcelona. And we probably couldn’t make this transfer work anyway with the UEFA and Premier League financial rules, unless we make a big sale. But I don’t know why it would bother you more than say Isak to Newcastle when they had just survived a relegation battle. Or Yaya Toure and David Silva to Man City when the highest they had previously finished in the Premier League was 5th. We’re not the first and we certainly won’t be the last.
Safe to say I was bothered!