{"id":50624,"date":"2022-06-01T06:22:07","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T19:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/villas-transfer-window-to-signal-owners-intent\/"},"modified":"2022-07-12T14:34:53","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T03:34:53","slug":"villas-transfer-window-to-signal-owners-intent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/villas-transfer-window-to-signal-owners-intent\/","title":{"rendered":"Villa\u2019s transfer window to signal owners intent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aston Villa are set for a rebuild this summer and with the owners amongst the richest in the Premier League, what will the ambitions of this summer\u2019s rebuild really be?<\/p>\n

The quality of the signings involved will give us an indication of what the ambitions of owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens are. Is the next step for Villa getting into the Europa League? Or are Sawiris and Edens going to aim straight for the bigger prize of the Champions League?<\/p>\n

If a signal of intent in a more advanced way was required, it came recently with the confirmation that the Claret and Blue have permanently signed Philippe Coutinho. Coutinho screams Champions League, not Europa League, and certainly not mid-table mediocrity.<\/p>\n

\n

Aston Villa is delighted to announce the permanent signing of Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona for an undisclosed fee! 🙌<\/p>\n

\u2014 Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) May 12, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nWhile on the subject of Coutinho, his former Liverpool teammates are in the final of the Champions League on 28th May. Liverpool are the favourites and priced at odds of 11\/10 on the exchanges according to the latest Champions League best odds<\/a>. Both Real Madrid and the draw are available at the same price of 14\/5.<\/p>\n

If that is the level Villa is aiming for, then they will need to sign more than just Coutinho<\/a>. As good as strikers Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings are, it\u2019s hard to envisage Bayern Munich head-hunting either in the event of Robert Lewandowski leaving this summer.<\/p>\n

Similar can be said for most of the defence, and the likes of Jacob Ramsey and John McGinn in the midfield department. They\u2019re good players, but maybe a level or so below the Champions League. Signing Champions League quality players takes time, and Steven Gerrard and Co may need patience. Coutinho is clearly a step in the right direction, but he won\u2019t make the difference on his own.<\/p>\n

\n

Official, confirmed. Philippe Coutinho joins Aston Villa on a permanent deal from Barcelona for \u20ac20m. 🚨🤝 #AVFC<\/a><\/p>\n

The club have inserted a 50% sell-on clause for any future sale of the player. #FCB<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/pvG60DwAYv<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 12, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nIt could be that in order to grow, Gerrard has to make do with a James Ward-Prowse style of signing, as the likes of Pedri won\u2019t be leaving Barcelona, or Foden won\u2019t be coming from Manchester City, any time soon.<\/p>\n

Last summer Villa had a bid for James Ward-Prowse rejected<\/a>, so would going back in for the Southampton dead-ball specialist signify lower expectations? Or does signing a player at that level simply represent where Villa are at the moment, while also improving the side?<\/p>\n

Steady progress is required, like what happened at Manchester City. Ten years ago they didn\u2019t go out and cherry-pick the world\u2019s top players, just because they had rich owners. The world\u2019s top players wouldn\u2019t have gone there en masse back then. They waited until the club had grown, and now they would all be beating a path to City\u2019s door, as has been shown with the recent signing of Erling Haaland.<\/p>\n

Those same rules apply to Aston Villa, and now Newcastle United as well. Steady growth is required, and that might require signings that don\u2019t shout Champions League. But what Manchester City have shown the likes of Aston Villa\u00a0is what can be achieved if the club\u2019s hierarchy is patient and develop the team at the right pace.<\/p>\n

Original Source: A Villa Fan<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aston Villa are set for a rebuild this summer and with the owners amongst the richest in the Premier League, what will the ambitions of this summer\u2019s rebuild really be?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50624"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50624"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50635,"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50624\/revisions\/50635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}