Duran moves to the desert and the Dogheads on Sunday.

So Jhon Duran has got the move he, or more likely his agent, has longed for and signed for Al Nassr in the totally meaningless Saudi Arabian desert league.

There’s only one reason you’d want to go there and we all know what it is. Money. Boatloads of it.

I’ve seen talk of £300k a week as the basic wages. Get your head around that, just as I am as I type it. Let’s say he’s signed a 3 year deal. That would be just shy of £48 million tax free. While it’s easy to say that he’ll be a rich man wherever he goes or even if he stayed at the Villa, consider that he’ll only be 24 or so when that contract is done. Then the money is earned and he gets the choice of doing what he wants.

Seriously, would you turn that down? I’m not sure I could or would have, looking back at that age.

It is an odd one though. The Saudis are throwing money at all sports to try and improve their image, but when it comes to footy, they generally target superstars who are nearing the end of their career. Are they signing Duran because they believe they can keep him for many years or have they simply seen him as the big name throughout Europe over the last six months? If it’s the latter, we should be grateful just for that extra exposure he gave us, I suppose.

Whatever, while I quite liked Duran as a striker and much better finisher than Ollie, I have no qualms about him going.

To my mind he’s a petulant sort who will never be happy with his lot. I’m guessing that he caused Emery a world of grief with his moaning, which is why we’ve let him go. If Unai couldn’t control or mould him, I pity any other manager who has to try. On the other hand, he was seen handing out gifts to the mere low life staff in the tunnel after the Celtic game and that makes him much more my kind of guy.

While I think he’s made a mistake, where he risks his reputation (any decent striker can score lots in Saudi, surely?) I wish him well. Where he goes from here is a good question. I honestly believe that if he applies himself as much as he can, he’ll become another Harlaand and score loads wherever he ends up. But I’m inclined to think he’ll become complacent and just fade away.

The really big question is who are we looking to spend it on? I’m seeing loads of talk about attackers, but I don’t see it. Maybe one striker , but way more important are defensive players. We’re apparently interested in Rashford and I don’t see that either. Good grief, why would we? Yes, on song, he’s a great player. But he seems to have serious issues and I wouldn’t touch him with a bargepole. Then again, there’s been a few instances where I’ve thought Unai was wrong, but ultimately he’s doing a stunning job and you can’t argue with where we are.

Which is 8th in the Champion’s league table. I’m still struggling to get my head around that too. For a neutral, we’re brilliant to watch, but for a fan, we’re a nightmare. It’s a roller-coaster and while we play well at times, so we are awful at others, which leads to me being probably overly-critical. It’s just the frustration in not getting what we want and I guess that’s the difference between a fan and a more knowlegable manager who sees the bigger picture better.

And so onto the Dogheads tomorrow.

Again I’m laughing to myself, as it’s another where I don’t have a clue as to how it’s going to go.

Squad news first and Matty Cash will be out for around a month. If that doesn’t lead to us getting a Right Back in, I doubt anything will, I’ve said all along that I see this as by far the most important position that needs shoring up, but it hasn’t happened. I’m not convinced it will in this window either.

Tyronge Mings is apparently close to being available, but this game is too soon, which contradicts a report I saw saying we’ve underplayed his injury. Ross Barkley is still training on his own and is about a week away from rejoining the squad.

As for Wolves, striker Jorgen Strand Larsen is out and Joao Gomes is suspended after a red last weekend. Carlos Forbes is a big doubt and they have another three or four players unavailable.

Despite a good start under the new manager, Wolves have lost their last four games, with a GD of 1 for and 10 against, which would indicate that having a striker injured doesn’t make much difference.

This ought to be easy really, but it’s a game of jeopardy, where we’re a gift to any team on a terrible run.

I’m tempted to think we’ll tear the heads off those dogs and beat them soundly, say 3 or 4-1.

But I think we’ll look really tired again and will do well to get a win at all.

I’m going for a safe draw. 1-1.

And while I don’t think that is enough for a team aiming at CL qualification, I do think it’s about as much as we can expect if I’m trying not to aim too high. Hence I’d take it as better than nothing.

UTV!

345 Comments

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  1. OLL again
    OLL again February 4, 2025 at 12:16 am . Reply

    Very pleased with the Window. Of course we don’t know if they will all work, that is rarely true. It has been obvious our front 3 can’t play two high intensity games a week. They fade. Unai now has 2 sets of 3 which he can rotate or perm. I hope the new recruits get match fit fast. We have just about got some cover at centre-back, though anyone not rated good enough for that role at Chelsea gas something to prove.

  2. The Ron Saunders Stand
    The Ron Saunders Stand February 4, 2025 at 12:36 am . Reply

    You bring in 3 times CL winner, pay him £350000 in to stand on the sidelines?
    Just what would be the logic to that?

  3. Badger123
    Badger123 February 4, 2025 at 5:29 am . Reply

    I agree. CL was probably the reason he wanted to come.

    Disasi was signed via a dealsheet and the club have officially announced it.

    1. BFR
      BFR February 5, 2025 at 12:49 pm . Reply

      What’s a dealsheet, Badger?

  4. Bum Bum
    Bum Bum February 4, 2025 at 8:29 am . Reply

    I wonder if we’ll see any of them on Sunday? Spuds must be sh1tting themselves. We need to make ammends for the 3-0 defeat a few weeks ago. A drubbing could see the old skinflint Levy pull the trigger and bring in Rooney. Or Gerrard. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

  5. Hitchens60
    Hitchens60 February 4, 2025 at 9:23 am . Reply

    Now the dust has settled – well a little bit – it seems to me that Villa have been very cute in this window.

    2 permanent transfers in and three out resulting in an overall profit of around £60m plus saving on wages of say £2 – £3m
    3 loans in – in positions we needed to strengthen – and all proven players capable of contributing at the highest level. Just one option to buy and one loan fee but covering the majority of wages – rough cost around £10m

    10 players out on loan including Buendia with further saving on wages of say £1m

    Very roughly, in PSR terms for this season (when amortisation and saving on outgoing players wages taken into account) must be a profit of between £65 and £70m on top of improving the quality of the squad – and we’re well positioned for the summer window.

    For a January window that’s outstanding.

    I reckon Monchi’s earned his money this month – should we have doubted him?

    1. Hitchens60
      Hitchens60 February 4, 2025 at 9:40 am . Reply

      Need to correct my last post – got a bit carried away – and forgot to account for Philogene’s re-purchase which was in this financial year not last.

      Means the profit is between £50 and £55m – still a great result.

      1. Bum Bum
        Bum Bum February 4, 2025 at 10:19 am . Reply

        Don’t forget any purchases are spread over the length of the contract too, so this spend may only be seen as £5m per year…And £100m in!!!!! (With all the Duran add ons).

        1. Hitchens60
          Hitchens60 February 4, 2025 at 11:50 am . Reply

          Took that into account Bum Bum – applies to Malen and Garcia but also significantly reduces any monies owing on Duran and Carlos.

  6. 1874 was a good year
    1874 was a good year February 4, 2025 at 10:56 am . Reply

    A wonderful window. I certainly wouldn’t want to play poker with Monchi that’s for sure.
    For me the three to register for the CL are Rashford, Ascencio and Malen. If that is the case then Disasi will have joined knowing this. I’m guessing that Emery will give him plenty of starts in the PL while ensuring that our other CB’s are fit and available for the CL games.
    Anyway, great stuff and looking forward to a cracking second half of the season.

    1. BFR
      BFR February 4, 2025 at 6:43 pm . Reply

      Disagree on Disasi if Torres and Mings are iffy. Malen will have to miss out.

  7. Alfie Ricketts
    Alfie Ricketts February 4, 2025 at 11:03 am . Reply

    Well I would say, following the crucial signing of a much needed, Premier League experienced centre-back, what a window! Lets hope the Spurs game can be the parent of some superstar debuts.

  8. DSVilla
    DSVilla February 4, 2025 at 11:25 am . Reply

    We also signed the young Turkish CB Ozcan. Hopefully one that’s going to pay off in the future.

    Maybe we can buy Philogene again when Ipswich get relegated and sell for another profit.🤷‍♂️

    1. Hitchens60
      Hitchens60 February 4, 2025 at 11:53 am . Reply

      DS – I saw Oscan referred to but never saw his signing confirmed.

      1. Hitchens60
        Hitchens60 February 4, 2025 at 11:58 am . Reply

        Are you sure we signed him DS as I can’t find it recorded anywhere?

        1. DSVilla
          DSVilla February 4, 2025 at 5:25 pm . Reply
          1. Hitchens60
            Hitchens60 February 4, 2025 at 6:18 pm . Reply

            Thanks DS – strange that it’s not recorded on the list of January transfers – well not that I could find. I can only surmise because we loaned him back.

  9. NeilH
    NeilH February 4, 2025 at 1:22 pm . Reply

    We signed him, but he is staying at his current club until the end of this season. Neil

    1. Hitchens60
      Hitchens60 February 4, 2025 at 2:00 pm . Reply

      Cheers Neil

  10. OLL again
    OLL again February 4, 2025 at 9:23 pm . Reply

    Change of team. The Villa U-18s are through to the quarter finals of the FA Youth Cup tonight after coming back from 0-2 against Bristol City with a hat trick from Cotcher (?). If you have Villa TV the highlights will be on tomorrow. The striker has scored in every round, but he is not pictured in the squad so I am not sure of the spelling.

    1. Hitchens60
      Hitchens60 February 4, 2025 at 9:52 pm . Reply

      Cotcher is correct OLL

      Good win.

      1. OLL again
        OLL again February 5, 2025 at 12:48 pm . Reply

        Quarter final Villa U-18 v Plymouth Argyle U-18 on March 8th 7pm ko at Bodymoor.

  11. 1874 was a good year
    1874 was a good year February 4, 2025 at 9:57 pm . Reply

    Just finished watching Atalanta get knocked out of the Coppa Italia by Bologna. If we do meet them in the last 16 I wouldn’t be shaking in my boots. They play the ball around nicely but they have no cutting edge up front.

  12. 1874 was a good year
    1874 was a good year February 4, 2025 at 10:39 pm . Reply

    BTW Anthony, worst transfer in Man U history so the fans say, now at Real Betis and he played a blinder over the weekend getting MOTM. So , this may bode well for us with Rashford, showing that it’s Man U that is the real problem.

  13. Gerry
    Gerry February 5, 2025 at 8:40 am . Reply

    From the BBC.

    Rashford could lose as much as 100% of the sponsorship money he receives from Nike because the sportswear giant considers Aston Villa a lower category of club than United. Nike could also ask him to partially pay back signing-on fees.

    1. OLL again
      OLL again February 5, 2025 at 12:32 pm . Reply

      Gerry. It is a stone cold certainty Rashford will lose 100% of his Nike sponsorship. Nike won’t want him on their books wearing an Adidas kit. Never mind Villa being a lower category – they are with the enemy!
      Rashford had a constructive dismissal from United so if anyone has to pay back signing on fees to Nike it will be Manure.

      1. BFR
        BFR February 5, 2025 at 12:53 pm . Reply

        And Nike are considered a lower category sports brand than Adidas, these days. I’ve heard they’ve lost a lot of market share due to sluggish marketing. Adidas have very much stolen a march on them.

        1. OLL again
          OLL again February 5, 2025 at 5:30 pm . Reply

          BFR, I don’t know about boots – but I see a lot of playing strips and Adidas have better quality shirts and shorts than Nike at the same price. Neither produces a good sock, the Stanno socks with L&R shaped feet are by far the best. I wear a pair every day in the winter instead of normal socks.

  14. Alfie Ricketts
    Alfie Ricketts February 5, 2025 at 11:35 am . Reply

    Think Sunday is a must win, progression in the FA cup will be vital for our season if we do not finish in a Champs League spot?

    This sounds negative but can we all agree… FA Cup and Europa Qualification from that over Champs League qualification from top 4 and no trophy?

    1. Bum Bum
      Bum Bum February 5, 2025 at 4:00 pm . Reply

      Hate to say it Alfie, but I’d have to go with the latter. We are so hamstrung by PSR, bloody money is everything. If we can’t increase and improve our squad we’re buggered. Newcastle had a bad year last year for the same reason, BUT they haven’t improved their squad at all. So even if they do grab 4th they’ll be screwed again. Our owners are better at running a club than the Saudi’s. They just throw money at everything, whereas we know we have to wheel and deal, and as this window shows, we’re pretty bloody good at it. Get the money n the bank, THEN WIN EVERYTHING!!! 🙂

      1. BFR
        BFR February 5, 2025 at 4:32 pm . Reply

        I’d go with FA Cup win and Europa League. We have to win something if we want to be a serious club. The ideal would be to win the FA Cup AND scrape top 4. It’s doable but we need to put 5-6 consecutive wins together, which they haven’t been able to do.
        Failing that, just win the Champions League and you’ve killed both birds with a fakin big stone! I get the feeling that’s what Unai is aiming for, but eggs and baskets ‘n’ all that…

    2. 1874 was a good year
      1874 was a good year February 5, 2025 at 4:34 pm . Reply

      For Emery I guess that the FA Cup will still be ranked lower than the CL or Prem. However, his and Monchi’s latest machinations means that we now have two players for every position. So, if Ollie is still injured and he wants to give some players a rest he could play –
      Martinez (or indeed Zych who impressed in the U21s)
      Garcia
      Konsa
      Bogarde
      Maatsen
      Kamara
      Onana
      Ramsey
      Ascensio
      Rashford (CF)
      Malen

      I’d have played Disasi too but I think that he’s cup tied. We’d also have a fabulous bench to call on if needed. Looking forward to the game.

    3. Hitchens60
      Hitchens60 February 5, 2025 at 5:51 pm . Reply

      It’s a fair question Alfie.

      Emery is on record as wanting to win a trophy – ideally the CL but he knows that barring an extraordinary sets of circumstances that’s highly unlikely so I guess he’ll give the FA Cup a good go along with wanting to see us climb up the league.

      The FA Cup also gives us a back door into Europe and the Europa League – think that’s correct.

      So I think Emery has three aims:

      1. Go as deep as possible in the CL
      2. Go hard for the FA Cup and
      3 Go for the highest position he can in the EPL and I think that’s his main objective for the simple reason that qualifying regularly for the CL is, as Bum Bum says, where the money is and will provide us with the tools to win trophies.

      So, I would definitely go for getting 4th (or possibly 5th) in the league ahead of the FA Cup the priority(at least this season).

      Nice to win a Cup – United have won a couple recently and what has that achieved – diddly squat and PSR problems to boot.

  15. Bum Bum
    Bum Bum February 5, 2025 at 5:58 pm . Reply

    I see the shit stirrers are out in force already over Rashford. It’s a big pay packet for a few weeks. Let’s see what it brings.
    Personally I hope it works out during this short period but I can’t see him pulling up trees.
    I think he’ll be at Portsmouth next season personally…

    1. BFR
      BFR February 5, 2025 at 8:04 pm . Reply

      He needs to block it all out and go out and enjoy playing football again. Channel all the shit he’s taken and use it to smash in goal after goal.
      I don’t know why but I specifically remember how badly Mourinho treated him as a youngster. In a post match interview after Rashford had missed chances and United had dropped points, Jose nonchalantly stated on air: “you ask why always Lukaku…now you know” referring to the press criticising him for overlooking Rashford for Lukaku. I was a big fan of Jose but my respect for him plummeted that day.
      Rashford needs to get majorly fired up and give all the haters the biggest finger and “f*** you” with goal after goal, week after week.
      I really hope he can do it. Not even for Villa. For himself. And Villa will reap the benefits.

      1. Bum Bum
        Bum Bum February 5, 2025 at 8:45 pm . Reply

        Good point Large Ronald.

        1. BFR
          BFR February 6, 2025 at 5:48 am . Reply

          😆

  16. Holte
    Holte February 5, 2025 at 8:55 pm . Reply

    Recently Spurs have been able to win games comfortably against us which is why I groaned when we drew them in the FA Cup. However when you consider the injuries they have and a tough semi final away to Pool tomorrow night, then we should have the advantage on Sunday with the extra rest and time for Emery to work out his training strategy.
    If we get into the 5th round and get a favourable draw, we should take this years FA Cup very seriously. I’ve never seen us win it and I’m 58! I’ve seen all the other domestic trophies won as well as the best day in 1982 of course but 1957 is embarrassingly too far gone for a club our size.
    I get the monetary benefit of finishing top 4 or 5 but it doesn’t last in the memory. I think we would need 10 years of continual Champions League / Europa League to crawl our way into a position to be financially competitive against the Sky 6. I want silverware this season and there’s no reason why we can’t with a bit of luck.

    1. BFR
      BFR February 6, 2025 at 7:35 am . Reply

      Totally agree on the FA Cup, Holte. They have to take it seriously and set the target to win it.

    2. OLL again
      OLL again February 6, 2025 at 10:19 pm . Reply

      Me too about the FA Cup, it is the missing one I have been lucky enough to know Terry Weir the old Villa photographer, so I have a picture of me holding the old League Championship, the EUFA Super Cup (which was a wooden plaque), the League Cup and of course the European Cup, all staged. Plus the impromptu snap at Elmdon when Villa palled away in their bus leaving me holding the European Cup [long story, Spink thought I was a club official]. But though I was there aged 9 at Wembley I never got my hands on the FA Cup for a photo.

  17. Bum Bum
    Bum Bum February 6, 2025 at 7:52 am . Reply

    I do like the FA Cup. I loved the old League Cup trophy too.
    And the Champions League one.
    And the World Cup.

    Gonna watch the Spuds game tonight and see what we’re up against…

    Any news on how the new guys are bedding in?

  18. BFR
    BFR February 6, 2025 at 12:34 pm . Reply

    So the FA Cup is now from Friday to Tuesday? Wall to wall. The broadcasters really know how to milk it, don’t they?

    1. Bum Bum
      Bum Bum February 6, 2025 at 3:33 pm . Reply

      Boom! Boom!!! 🙂

      1. Hitchens60
        Hitchens60 February 6, 2025 at 3:50 pm . Reply

        Money, money, money etc.

        1. Bum Bum
          Bum Bum February 7, 2025 at 8:31 am . Reply

          The winner takes it all.

          1. BFR
            BFR February 7, 2025 at 11:20 am . Reply

            I have a dream…

            1. BFR
              BFR February 7, 2025 at 11:22 am . Reply

              …Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!

  19. little8
    little8 February 6, 2025 at 5:57 pm . Reply

    Good points holte would love a good cup run and should be too much for spuds at home would be great to win the fa cup

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