Now that the summer transfer window is officially open and we're hurtling towards July, Aston Villa's summer transfer activity will start to ramp up. It's a big window for the club, after qualifying for the Champions League for the second time in three years and winning the Europa League.
John Townley sat down on Monday afternoon with Dan Rolinson to tackle your questions for the Claret & Blue podcast. You can watch the episode here, or ask your question by filling out this form. Here are a few of Townley's answers to the questions asked...
Midfield Options: Can Tielemans Play in the 10?
With a healthy team, could Tielemans play in the 10 if Rogers leaves? Onana and Kamara behind him, or even can we keep Kamara further back and have Onana and Tielemans in front of him, like Kroos, Modrić, Casemiro or Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets? Then we can spend our money on attack and young squad talents rather than an attacking midfielder specifically, who can learn from our current squad.
“It’s certainly an option. I think that’s one thing to say - that we like to have midfielders - or Emery likes to have midfielders - who can cover multiple roles, right? And this is why I did a piece the other day basically explaining what would be my dream window, or what I would think would be strong.
“I’m struggling a little bit with replacing Rogers as a player in the 10. We obviously know we need a winger, whether Rogers stays or goes, because we’ve lost Sancho, and we needed one before him anyway, to be honest. So a right winger is obviously paramount - you need that - and then you have McGinn and a winger who can play on the right, McGinn who can play in the 10, and also Tielemans who can play in the 10.
“So, if Rogers goes, you theoretically have enough there on the left, but for me, we need more as well. You have Buendía, and McGinn can play there too, but also I want another one. So really, I want two wingers now, whether Rogers stays or goes. If Rogers goes, then for me you need to replace him with a number 10. So, you know, not Asensio, but a player like Asensio.
“And it’s interesting that we were looking at midfielders in January, so obviously that was partly because of Tielemans’s injury. But I wouldn’t advise that we would spend money on James Garner or on Lucas Bergvall had it only been because of Tielemans’s injury, because he’s only out for a space of weeks. And Luiz played - didn’t play that well - and was out of the team afterwards, so, you know, he did his bit, right? Luiz, for a little bit, and that’s what we needed.
“But I wonder what if - and it’s difficult because this is basically hinging on selling Rogers, and I’m only talking about it like that because it’s a possibility, and it makes a pretty short podcast if we just say Rogers stays, okay, we need two wingers, done - but if Rogers was to go, I’d be interested to see if we went back in for Bergvall.
“Because then I think it opens up the door to, okay, you have Onana and Kamara, you have Bogarde as well, you have Lindelöf who can also play in those positions, Bergvall too, McGinn too, Tielemans too - but specifically those last three players could all also play in the 10.
“With two wingers and Watkins, you know, I don’t know - it’s certainly depth, and a lot of options. You’ve got Barkley there as well, so yeah, and also enough space in the squad to do that. If Rogers was to go, you’ve still got space to bring in two wingers and a 10, and that’s three players in those four positions. So I do think that there could be a bit more business than maybe some others would suggest. Well, Buendía is still there as well - phew.
“Yeah, so if I just go through it quickly: if Rogers goes, Buendía and McGinn are across those three roles, plus another two wingers, so you essentially have - what would that be - four players who can play across those three positions, plus you have Tielemans who can play there as well. So it’s all, you know, fitting the pieces together for when you have injuries or suspensions, or when you have two games in a week. We need that - it’s not excessive for me.
“So I think, yeah, Rogers goes, then you need three players to come into that forward line or supportive line. But then also you’re looking at - well, you need a new right-back, you’re probably going to need a new goalkeeper. What’s going to happen with a player like Maatsen, like we’ve discussed before? Will there be a suitable offer? If there is, then he would probably go.
“What if Mings gets an offer from another Premier League club? So I do think there might be some more business than what maybe others would suggest. But at the same time, that hinges on sales. If Rogers stays, then it’s very, very different, because we have limited flexibility.”
PSR Jigsaw Puzzle: Frustration and Reality
The PSR jigsaw puzzle with regards to buying and selling players that Villa are currently going through would actually be quite fun if everyone else was in the same boat or it was a level playing field. Thoughts?
“Rules and transfers and stuff - like, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again - it’s obviously frustrating, but I’m not and - well, I am a bit angry about it, but I’m not, like, livid, because I know that we’ll be fine as long as we have Emery. If we didn’t have Emery, I think I’d be, um, doing something on it every single day. Um, I just think that for us, that is the difference. So, I know that as long as we have him, we’ll be competitive and we’ll probably be in European competition every year, and for me, that’s - that’s fine.
“Can we do more? Could we challenge for a title and all of that - you know, those different things? Yeah, possibly so, um, but I understand the point of, um, you know, linking it to revenue. I get it, but the issue is that, um - how do I explain this?
“Obviously, clubs can spend what they earn and, you know, that’s understandable, but I guess it’s how do you put in a system where clubs can be ambitious and can spend, um, I don’t know, and have proof that they’re not going to put the club under or whatever. Like, Man United - how much debt are they in?
“So, I’m not going to go over old ground - we know it all already. Um, if there’s a different rule that made it fair for everyone, unfortunately, I don’t think that would pass through because that’s not the point. You know, we need to wake up and understand that the Big Six are powerful, and the owners who own them - again, the Super League - they literally tried to put English football in the bin, and what did they get for it? I haven’t even got a clue. No one knows.
“They should have had relegation, they should have had all sorts, they should have had the book thrown at them, and they didn’t get any of that. So nothing really surprises me anymore. Like, this is what it is, unfortunately, and we’re just going to have to get on with it. Because come the day that Villa get, you know, fair financial rules and they can compete like other clubs - sorry, I just don’t envisage it. We’re just going to have to battle against it, and that’s what it is, um, until our revenue grows, unfortunately.”
Naming Rights for Villa Park: A Revenue Boost?
What are your thoughts about possibly selling the naming rights of Villa Park?
“Naming rights - fine by me. I don’t really see a problem with it. My only issue is if it would be plastered everywhere in the stadium and it becomes like a mini advertising board. But, I mean when I say everywhere, I mean like Sports Direct at St James’s. That was hideous - the whole thing became like a big shop. But yeah, it’ll obviously be part of it, but there’d be, I don’t know, like at Hill Dickinson, for example - you can see it, but nothing more than that. It’s not like everywhere.
“So, yeah, fine by me. If it raises our revenue, then okay. It’s not something that I think will be too invasive. I guess it’s just that the money we make, we still need to spend correctly, because there are two issues for us. Firstly, it’s the rules, but then it is recruitment.
“If you gave Villa £100 million free to spend, I assume we’d probably spend it on two players worth £50 million, for argument’s sake. Will they be the right players to take us to the next level? I don’t know. Obviously, you’d rather have the knowledge of knowing and doing it and trying, because the issue is that we can’t do that.
“Like when I always talk about Šeško, and that being the thing that really annoys me, because it’s not just that they spent £70 million on a striker - it’s that they spent that to replace the £70 million striker that flopped. So we can’t make those big risks, and we can’t get them wrong - that’s the frustration, even if Villa did have all of that freedom. It doesn’t mean that you just become a better team. Look at Liverpool - look at all the money that they spent, and we finished above them.
“So I think for us, we have a great manager, everything is in place at the club - the culture, everything is there. But my argument would also be that, okay, if you then gave us a free chequebook to spend what we like, does the culture then change? Does it become watered down? Do we spend it on the right players? What happens when we don’t? Does that unsettle the dressing room?
“I think there’s a lot to be said for the kind of ingredients that it’s taken for us to win the Europa League and to finish in the top four two seasons out of three. And it’s having a lot of players who have bought into Emery’s project and his way of playing, and that builds that culture.
“We trade, but the players who have been here for a long time - Watkins, Cash, Mings, McGinn, even Kamara now - all of those players have stayed. Martínez too, up until now. Put this way: if we spent £200 million every single summer, does that mean that we get better than where we are now? I genuinely don’t think it gives us a free right to do that, I really don’t. But obviously, I think as fans, we’d rather just have the opportunity.”
Would Villa Win the World Cup?
Hypothetically, would Villa win the World Cup?
“I actually think Villa would have a good chance because you play with each other every week, you have a way of playing, you have a deep squad. For example, I looked at - was about to say Valencia - the Ecuador team yesterday. They’ve got a great defence, but they still have Enner Valencia up front.
“Brazil have obviously got some very good players, but there are clear areas where they’re lacking, same as the Dutch. That’s just part of being a national team - it’s almost like that’s what you get. Not clear areas to improve, but there are obviously areas where you’d like to improve. But we can go into the transfer market - well, we’d like to go into the transfer market - whereas national teams can’t.
“So yeah, I got Brazil on my sweepstake, so I know a little bit about their national team and the sort of vibe they’re in. It’s always excitement, but I think this year more than ever there’s an acceptance that they’re not one of the best teams anymore. Their full-backs - what? They’re not Brazilian full-backs.”
