Aston Villa bid for Ruben de la Red

This would be nice...Are we assuming that DLR's comments about staying were just window dressing then?

What sort of chance of this coming off do you (or your source) give this? Any reaction from DLR or Real?

So what is the latest then Damian? Are there any further developments? How much was the bid? Just asking before everyone else does!! Thanks for the inside tip by the way, its great to have a bit of excitement again.....also any word on the Hammer bid from yesterday?

sign him up! and send Gareth on his way!

I had it in my head that it would be Joaquin. But this is hardly exclusive news considering it was in the Spanish press a week or so ago that we had bid. Fingers crossed it comes off!

Yes!!!! Damo is the man!!!!!

has anyone got the stats on his career from early days 2 now

i'll know more later tonight

not everythign you will read tomorrow, probably sunday is true. o'neill and lerner want this player and they are ready to do wahtever it takes ... from what i'm getting told, maybe it tunrs out that villa are about to splash the cash and the general might have been right

i'll clearly be eating humble cake if they do this and the next one that is getting talked about

hardly an exclusive, and not new news, so barely a mystery man at all.

Ok, forget my previous post.......I think i may have caught you mid post there as i just had the title displaying on my screen. I will still ask though if you know anything further about the Ashton and Ferdinand bid...Also Damian, how do you think that the GB situation will be played out? Do you think that it is 100% that he is going?

this is all good but didnt he tell the spanish hed b more than happy 2 stay at real madrid and i love vila 2 dead but wouldnt a player rather stay at mardir if he comes that will b an amazing fingers crossed

im geting excited now i realy hope your right going to get a clip of him now of youtube.. you just made my day haha..
going out now with a smile on my face ;D

next one, what you on about ay
theres more players
youve gotta tell us
its just teasingggg

Bring it on, about time we had some glamour again.

There has been an unreal amount of speculation about this boy coming to Villa in the last two weeks. I even remember reading this player has come out and stated he wasn't leaving Real.
To be honest, I dont know much about this player, id never heard about him till this speculation came up. I doubt this deal will happen but if it does and people are right about how good he is, good stuff Villa!!

Jon Law - As you seem to be in the know why dont you come forward and tell us the next target then?

wow i honestly was expecting this i thought this was way too obvious.i know we have been linked with him but ive never really seen him play is he any good if so how good

have we ever signed or sold any one from/to real madrid before?

would have loved joaquin but de la red will be a good player to have onboard, just hope its not much more than 12-15 million. does he play CM? so hopefully we will still get a right winger as well and who will make way? do we have too many central midfielders now. osbourne, salifou, gardner, Sidwell, NRC, petrov, and barry hopefully. along with young and routledge on the wings.

"I'll clearly be eating humble cake if they do this and the next one that is getting talked about."

What is the next one that is getting talked about?

really good lol called up for the spanish national team so cant b bad

Typed this once but not on blog does anybody know any stats about him from early days to present.

Damian great news he will defo light up Villa park next season if he comes. Damo could comment on what your source rates the transfer as. Does he think we have no chance of signing him or does he think there is a real possibility? Also Damian is this going to be in the papers tomorrow?

Cracking signing if we get him. Don't think MON has given up on SWP either.We could still do with a prolific striker too. Even if we get Ashton; he's just another brutal centre forward, if fit, will return 12 goals max.

De la red is a player i have tracked for a while as i can never understand why he was never deemed quite good enough for the Real Madrid team.
To this question i have finally worked out the answer, he is too much of a team player!
if we got him this would be a fantastic trade off for Gareth Barry, who sounds like is getting as annoyed as the rest of us with liverpools management/onwership style.
anyway onto Ruben De la Red's stats:
These are from his career playing total.

108(23 as sub) total career appearances (including for real's junior and B sides)
21 goals (including 7 senior goals and 3 international ones)

The really interesting fact is his assists not very convincing untill last year (when he signed for getafe) when he got 17 assists, the highest in the spanish la liga, which i think we would all agree would be a fantastic addition to villas creativity!
roll on The unveiling!!!
about the Gareth Barry thing, is anyone else thinking that he maybe realising that perhaps they dont want him as much as we want to keep him?, by we i mean aston villa the club.

barry stayin wouldnt be a bad signing ive just bet fifty he plays sunday

i have been refreshing the pages for news since Damo left the clues but now its out It sounds exciting, if he signs but something in the post sticks out and is adding to the excitement and i quote from Damian's comment:
[quote]i'll clearly be eating humble cake if they do this and the next one that is getting talked about[/quote]

the thing that sticks out is the bit about 'if they do this and the next one'.

I ask what next one? now your teasing give us info and then drop another hint at a another surprise lol. care to expand Damian

LINK

Liverpool Football Club. A proud and noble institution fallen, sadly, on difficult times. The two owners hold each other in contempt, but not in as much contempt as they both hold the manager.

It will end in tears. Their fall from grace is an atonement for the terrible sins of Heysel and Hillsborough. Hubris has played his final game and now Nemesis hovers resolutely over Anfield, a knowing smile on her lips. She knows the inevitability of Fate.

The manager senses it too. His nostrils twitch at the breeze and he smells the decay. His answer to his demons is what it has always been – spend, and then spend more, and more again. He hopes that this constant commercial activity will distract the Gods but they are merely amused at his torment. A month ago he was immensely cheered by an offer to return to his former employers – The Barcelona Tapas Bar Y Restaurante in Lime St, London. He could leave behind the turmoil at LFC and return to the calm and civility of his customers at tables 9-16 and the handsome tips they left for him. His dreams were shattered when it turned out that the offer was for a position as kitchen porter.

He thought about it for several days but declined. And then, a week later, he awoke suddenly at 3 am and saw Bill Shankley’s ghost at the foot of his bed. He hid his head under the covers and wept but his sobs couldn’t drown out Shankley’s advice. “Eighteen million for Barry? Forget it! Go for the better value – one hundred million for O’Neill”.

The good news for Liverpool fans is that re-birth and renewal will follow this decline. Hicks and Gillett will move on and the fat waiter will be found working at The Gunner’s Grill, Holloway Road, North London.

Would be a great signing if we could pull it off but i thought this would only happen if barry went,or maybe mon is planning to use barry on the subs bench next year!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

thanks for the inside scoop damien muchly appreciated. this is all so exciting. villa4life

Thanks for the news, Damian, understand you can't say much else. But it seems they've been working this, and it's good to hear they're willing to do "whatever it takes."

Poor Gareth if DLR comes, and the Liverpool transfer falls through. "But I'd like to stay now, sir!"

Correct me if im wrong but didnt you state 2 months ago we were on the verge of signing Bentley ?

This will be brill if it comes through... cheers damo

I knew it!! Lets just hope MON and Randy can now get him to sign. This could be the catalyst for bigger signings to come.

Fingers crossed!!!!

So Damian,
Are you saying there is a second target in the pipeline too that you know about????

Sorry i would love to belive that we will land a player off such class but i think we might only sign one more and that will be cb i lie the rumour of anton ferd and dean aston new that would be nice!!! ;D

Oh My GOD!!!!!!.. This was broken as a story 2 weeks ago. Damian shame on you. All your pontificating yesterday about a mystery signing....what next Big story that we might be interested in Wright Philips or Milner.

As I said yesterday...self gratifying garbage.

Does anyone have any detailed info about the man? Goals to games, caps, age, hair colour etc.

villabiker, this site is slow to refresh, you have to refresh frequently to see new/your own posts,

Holy s**t its true! well its on wiki, either someone has changed it or Wiki know something we dont!!

LINKén_de_la_Red

"Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón confirmed in May 2008 that, along with Granero and Javi García, De la Red would return to the Bernabéu for the 2008–09 season. He could be used in a swap deal involving a number of potential targets, although Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster has stated that he would like to give the midfielder a chance to impress in his team. Aston Villa have been linked with the midfielder and a bid has been accepted"

HAPPY DAYS!

LINK

de la red scoring for real madrid ,quality (but also watch the sub hit his on the bench again quality)
And who;s the other player u mentioned damo

How old is the news.... Story broke in 2nd week of JULY!!!!!!

check the dates on these - LINK

LINK

LINK

"I'll clearly be eating humble cake if they do this and the next one that is getting talked about."

Wow wow, don't do that again! Who's the "next one" then?! Or are we taking your words out of context?

No idea anything about DLR so a brief history would be really useful if anyone can post it.

Daniam what do you mean if we get him and this other player?

who is the other player??????????

An astute piece of business by O'Neill if it goes through, and perhaps the final word in the whole Gareth Barry saga? It's looking more and more like Barry de la Red isn't going to happen, so just to add insult to injury O'Neill signs Ruben de la Red. Quality.

its on wiki!!!!

LINKén_de_la_Red

According to his Wiki:

"... Aston Villa have been linked with the midfielder and a bid has been accepted..."

Seems he has only played 10 times for Real Madrid and has shot to fame (and Spain national squad) based on a loan season at Getafe.

2004–2007 Real Madrid Castilla 70 (12)
2004–2007 Real Madrid 10 0(0)
2007–2008 Getafe CF 31 0(3)

(Real Madrid Castilla are the reserve team that play in the third level of Spanish football: there are 4 groups of 20 teams at this level)

great signing he maybe but dont get too carried away
if he signs how will he adapt to the squad as most of our team are english speaking it will take him time to settle and learn,

again if he does sign we probably wont see him play till the latter half of this new season....

Now its not on wiki .. cause i just deleted it!

Thats how easy it is to edit that website lads.. anyone can do anything to any page!

hey damien how come only you have this info and not other sites, surely it must have leaked out elsewhere?

or are u the krulak in disguise? yet another public relations stunt.

we all fucking now that this aint going to happen regardless!!! he wants to stay at real madrid full stop.

i would rather take shaun wright philips anyday or even milner over de la pink!!!

guys lets get off cloud nine, this transfer aint happening, if it was going to happen and we put a bid in yesterday then that calderon guy who has a largest mouth in football would ave come out and said that they are recieved a bid from villa!!

this is a fucking joke!!!

Here in Spain, the reports eminating from Valencia are saying that a Premier team has tabled a bid for two of their players. :o None of the Madrid based papers have anything about De La Red in them what so ever, and normally they are very hot on these things. But i suppose they could be wrong.

I KNEW IT
genius damien, pure genius (if we do get him)
Cmon!!
noticed you had MON again as your picture!!!
get in there...

Ok Damo
Well done!
Give us a clue to the next one....
Is it a striker?
If this all happens and fat boy stays as well - we will be well sorted.

wow...De La Red...what a world renowned player, i thought the suprise was somebody good..

How much are we bidding and will it be enough? And I assume that it doesn't change us bidding for Ashton and A. Ferdinand

I read on [url][/url]sportinglife.com[url][/url] a week ago that we'd reportedly made a £9.5million bid for De La Red and he said that he'd received offers from England but wanted to stay with Real Madrid. So did we make this bid a week ago or was yesterday's bid the first? Apparently Schuster wants to give him a chance and with Sneijder injured there may be a space for him. I have to say I'm not that optimistic about this one unfortunately. We really could do with a player like this though and I hope it happens. He provided Getafe with 17 assists last season and was seen as their playmaker. He isn't exactly a goal scorer his skill and hard-working attitude is really what we need.

Haines thanks for the stats appreciated.
Andy5759 thanks for letting me know about refreshing page.
Silent bob is there a big cloud over your house I swear if we signed Ronaldo there would be something wrong for the first time in many a season I think the prem will have to sit up and look over your shoulder Liverpool were coming.

vogra. raul wouldn't sign for a uefa cup team on the rise. we have to face facts that we are aquiring players at our level. we aint going to get real madrid starters are we!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stop being so negative all the time. how bout some support

i so hope we gets this man would be awesome!and then keep on spendin the 2 boys from the hammers then swp!!

By the way i'm joking..

Id love it if we got this guy, looks a great player, creative in the centre of the midfield just what we need..

Would love O'Neil to have a bid for Falcao

villa villa agree 100%!!

Who does this "damian" think he is? Get real lads if this was as big a news as damian said it is it will be all over the internet and not some 2 bit villa would know before the likes of sky sports, setanta, the sun, the spanish media ect....

I am not beign funny but villa are on the up regardless, dont be sucked in because you will all be on cloud 9 believeing something and when it dosent happen you will be back in the dumps and moaning just like the few who are even moaning even though we now have a right back!!

SO WE DIDNT SIGN LUKE YOUNG LAST YEAR, SO HE COST US 6MIL SO WHAT!!! WE ARE ASTON VILLA NOW SHUT YOUR MOANING AND GET BEHIND THE TEAM AND BELIEVE IN MON AND NOT SOME DIV OFF THE NET!!

AVFC

damian what do you rate our chances of getting the player 10 for being a dead cert 1 for being extremely unlikely

Great News! ;D Hope this goes through!

We know you can't say much yet but are you sure you'll be able to tell us more by tonight? Also, does anyone know if there's any truth in the 2 bids for Valencia players? Or is that just a rumour at the moment?

UTV

Yes. Yes. Yes.
Where are the angry brigade?

yep it would be great for oneil just to show intent by going for falcao, if you search enough on him, he looks just like a slightly more tenacious tevez, plus i dont think man u would go for him after wrapping up tevez deal, or as good as.
these two are too similar for him to have them both.
klass Jan Hunterlar would be ok in my book too!!!!

Villa 2-0 up at half time against sunny Marbella!

guys
how much would it make you laugh if barry was going to used as bait to get his champ league football? he said he wanted champ league not gerrard partnership nor liverpoool. his reason for anting to go was champ league. this could be hilarious. darth rafa you fat waiter you are crap at transfers and dare i say it MON is starting to look like he plays the market like a true pro.

MOn is a transfer pro. now thats rereshing to hear isn't it
it feels really good try saying it. it feels awesome

Oh Please Martin... Oh please Randy.... with a cherry on top sign De La Red... show the world the ambition every Villa fan has had since ye have taken over... De la Red is quality... him and one or two or if i'm greedy which i am 5 new players over the next week.
(I wasn’t alive for 81 and 82' so you can't blame me for wanting to see those great times return to the team i love)

Give us De la Red, Ashton, Ferdinand, Kaboul, Falcao and Larsson of our dearest neighbours

How Good would it be to start at Man city with a squad of:

GK: Friedel / Guzan and Taylor
FB: Young / Shorey / Bouma / O'Halloran / Gardner at a push
CB: Laursen / Davies / Knight/ Kaboul/ Ferdinand
MF: De la Red / Sidwell / Gardner / Reo-Coker / Osbourne / Salifou / Petrov
AM: Young / Maloney / Routledge / Larsson
FC: Carew / Ashton / Gabby / Harewood / Falcao

Now that squad would crack the top 4, I think under MON it could do even better... Uefa cup? Title challenge... I can dream… But under Martin and Randy that dream isn’t too far away…

UP THE VILLA!!! :) :D ;D

Villabiker

dont knock me for being practicl im as excited as you and would love it i was ecited about young and shorey yesterday to the point i stopped working and spent pretty much all day on avfcblog

i was just making a point about the settling in period he will have to adjust to if he does sign

belive me im not taglor or any other neagative posters but i am a realist who can see practical sides of situations.

before you knock me again have a GOOD look around this place and in the forum then judge weather or not im in the neagative brigade or not pal...

I thought it would be De La Red Arsenal want him aswell tho so its far from happening but good to hear!

De le red would be great. Who is other Mr X damien???
Why is anyone worried about Barry. He has made it clear he does not want to play for Villa. So either use him as tool to get in another player or get the money soon as. Thanks for the service but this club and its fans is bigger than any one person.

Tease... ;)

Not so silent bob
Do not get to spend as much time on site as would like, but off work this week, was also on site most day yesterday in anticipation of X man and NSSB was class on forum '? or ? 'and from what I could see is top class villa fan.

As harsh as his post was I have to agree with villavilla, I just cant see this but if it happens I will streak from the lower holte next year!

cheers johno much appriciated karma awaiting in forum ;D

damaian, not hassle i promise............
when do i ever hassle you?

just can you elaborate on your comment in the article that says
'but rest assured this is something that has been going on for a while - it's not a recent fancy'

why would we be bothered if its a fancy? whats occuring?

Marca are reporting that we are in talks with Real Madrid about bringing de la Red to Villa Park. They are usually very ITK on things concerning Real. Looks like this has some truth in it! :D

i really really hope we get the lad but i dont know it seems a long way away yet. this is my team for next year gk.... friedel
l young curtis m laursen shorey

sidwell hokey pokey
de la red


swp carew a young

subs guzan,kaboul,gardner,harewood,routledge
very decent team should push on from last year i feel and hope
UTV

good team add milner into the mix and we have a fairly good young powerfull pacey squad

Wow that's a real exclusive Damian and totally unexpected???

Unless of course you read the below link which was on Skysports on the 29th July 2008: -

LINK

Or De La Red's statement that he didn't want to leave Madrid on the 1st August 2008: -

LINK

Hardly worth all the suspense and I certainly wouldn't give up the day job!!!

mayb martin has done a villa camp in spain 1 to gain match fitness n 2 to sort out the deal with de la red, its a possibility

Ill be totally honest, id never heard of the guy before he was spoken about on this blog. If anyone could post up videos or anything like that it would be good.

He certainly has a good background and if Arsenal are after him then he will most probably be great. I cant help being a little upset that this is "player X" as you had already said about it before. Still if he is as good as everyone seems to think he is ill be well happy. Milner would be great aswell!

link halfway down comments by 'always villa' youtube link, quality headbenching!!

I watched him play in a few games for Getafe in there UEFA cup run to the Quarter final last year, also saw him play about once or twice in the spanish league on Sky as well, and most recently in that Spain vs Greece match where he scored. I wouldnt describe him as a like for like replacement for Barry, first and for most i really doubt he will score as many goals as barry, but saying that im sure he wont get to take all of our penalties if he did sign. Although thats not to say he cant score goals he certainly has the ability. He does play centre mid but hes naturally adept at playing the Holding role as well, he reads the game very well and i would describe him as a better tackler than Reo-coker. Hes not the fastest player but he does have enough pace to cope with the prem i think and certainly has the ability to dribble past players without having to rely on pace, now in this sense he is very much like Barry, as we all know barry doesnt rely on his pace.

If this transfer happened we would be getting a good player who showed he can cope with the big time in his loan season at getafe last season and hes young, he has the ability to be real gem for us and im sure could replace barry as creative centre of our midfield.

But who knows if this transfer will happen, Snejider is injured with i think crucient ligament damage to his knee so that could be several months out, so there is room for him in the squad.

Here's hoping!!

This was on sky on the 1st August - this is not new?!
LINK

this would be an amazing signing...not just for villa but for the premier league...id love to see him at villa park and be a true hero!!!!!

i just really hope it comes off and works out!!!

it would definatly pave the way for other players, especially if we get into the UEFA cup proper!

com on oh mighty one..do the deeds and get him!!!!!

It would be martins biggest signing ever IMO

Would be great to have more non english players as they add something diffrent and are vital for europe otherwise we will end up like celtic was

damian are you confident we will actually get him please reply

If De La Red comes to Villa where would he play? Is he a central midfielder/playmaker or is he the right-sided winger that we've been in the market for...?

The right-sided midfielder is the "key" position in my book. Bentley would have been great, but unfortunately we didn't poney up enough cash. We a good crosser of the ball, and someone that balances out Young's game... NOT a carbon copy...

thats more like it :)

Wow... hasn't this story been running for a while, nice work Damian! :'( And stop teasing us, who is this other player that you talk of that is a load of rubbish and we wont sign. the dean ashton story was a long shot, but cant see this happening in the slightest.

fitzy not even a space on bench gor gabby, mind you get 7 subs next year dont ya

Could be a classic signing,

Ashton/Anton rumour; my mate has been reading West Ham Blogs and they seem to agree that the bid is in and because they're in the sh!t financially (due to a lot of money due to be paid) they may be willing to lisen to offers!!

Would be two quality signings, not sure on Anton though, needs the MON effect!!

Is there definately another player lined up Damo or could it be the two from Valencia??

Anyone who questions why would a quality player come to us take a look at the shite at White Hart Lane, Uefa football plain and simple, if you wanna impress at International level you have to be playing in Europe not sat on the Bench or in the reserve team!!

Come on MON get signing these asap!!!!!!!

So, did O'Neill travel with the squad to Spain? Or did he stay at home? If he went, I wonder if we can expect any negotiations?

Damian Lets hope you look like nostradamus in the morning and not a blog publicity hungry twat ;)

fitzy, hi mate dont even bother asking damien this question as he doesnt know himself.

its all a p.r stunt, not by damien but by others in the field.
there is no de la red coming to villa, there will be hopefully shaun wright phillips.

please guys dont have a go at me, but why is it that no newspaper, skysports or other forums/blogs have this info, if this guy damien is getting info from is a insider or something else, why wouldny he tell any1 else about this?

i emphasis that this only a p.r stunt, just like krulak, who has shot himself in the foot again and apologised in a newspaper for saying that villa have 30 million to spend on 1 player.

have u noticed, all this news gets all of us randy and excited but then nothing ever happens?

its all a joke, these guys who run villa are professional people who have had media training and know how to play us the fans of villa.

look at redknapp, he openly tells the fans who is after and 9 out of 10 he gets them!!!! y the fuck is there silence from mon and the club?

i hope the club reads these messages and hopefully they will act asap!!!!

sorry for being so negative, but please guys dont get ur hopes up because if this transfer doesnt happen then you will all jump on mon's and damiens back for reporting such utter shit!!

If we get this guy then MON isn't as bad at transfers as I've been thinking for three years.

If we don't get this guy my opinion stays the same.

It's not that I don't believe it could happen, I'm just bored of seeing so many names linked with us on this site and on others - just to get excited about them - only for it not to happen! You can only take it for so long before you go crazy, so I choose not to until signed sealed and delivered!

Yesterdays boys are a decent enough start for quality, so too would the wet spam pair be, but as for De La Red I'll believe it when I see him with the shirt... or a nice cheesy "NEWSFLASH - De La Red in for talks" on the o.s. ;D

Re: the headbanging sub

It's Red Ruud hitting another fence.

it appears spurs and arsenal want de la red too. isnt it the case that we will only get him if spurs can get arshivin and arsenal arent interested? also if pool dont come up with the money for barry can we afford (will mon spend?) 12 million for de la red?

Any more news? a clue to the other player perhaps and what chance of the DLR deal going through?

The story is breaking? I've SCOURED the interweb, and can't find a single post about De La Red anywhere...

Same opinion as most on here, seen him a few times, he looks very assured, and is probably about as high quality a player that we can hope to attract, but unfortunately, i don't see him being attracted by us. Firstly, Real would have to accept a bid...now Real are not ones to need money from us, especially not in the region of 10-12mil for someone who they see as a very good prospect, or at least one good enough to buy back this summer. It is possible they saw the opportunity to earn a quick buck knowing they could sell him for more than their buy back price, but i severely doubt Real are in desperate need for funds. Secondly, the guy has been told he'll be given a chance, and he believes that, and i can only think that in his head, if he's already at Real Madrid with a chance of first team football, why would he go anywhere else...players strive their entire careers for his position...so why at such a young age would he choose to cash that in to play with a team who's trying to qualify for the Uefa cup, and who he has probably barely heard of. It's a great story, and a great signal of intent...but sadly i fear we're not an attraction for such a player. The big however is that managers don't usually persue a target, especially not with a bid, unless they've got a pretty good idea that they'll get said player. So...fingers crossed ay.

pprid ye mate that was a mistake course gabby should be there if we get swp those two could have a healthy battle for that position.i think villa villa may be right too you know ive also scoured the web looking for sources but havent found any although i do hope damian is right and we do get him. id personally be more excited if we signed 3 more players those being swp ashton and anton ferdinand however if the de la red deal goes through maybe we wont get any of them who knows sure only the legend that is martin o neill villa 4 life......keep the faith this could be a unbelivable season lets pray eh

A report in the Mail claims that we've had a bid of "around £10" turned down for Santa Cruz. It would seem that, were we to sign DLR (a central midfielder) and Santa Cruz, we'd be looking at a 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation, with Gabby and Ashley on the wings (with Maloney and Routledge as backup) and a 1st choice midfield of Barry (hopefully), DLR and Sidwell/Reo-Coker. Santa Cruz would battle it out with Carew for the lone stiker role. I say this because it would be more effective than 4-4-2, given the type of players we have (i.e. Agbonlahor not really being an out and out striker, but being dangerous as a wide attacker; us having no right-sided midfielder, other than Routledge, and no left-sided midfielder other than Young, who anyway mostly played as an old-style outside left last season because, with such a narrow right midfielder (Petrov or Reo-Coker), he had the freedom to).

Of course, I could be completely wrong. After all, we haven't yet signed DLR and Santa Cruz is a less substantial rumour still. And maybe we'll sign a decent right winger instead. Or as well, and have an overloaded central midfield (Coker, Petrov, Sidwell, Salifou, Osbourne, DLR, and very possibly, or even probably, Barry).

Interesting, if not entirely comfortable, times.

apparently we have are going to bid 7m for santa cruz.according to the mail.

i would love to see DLR at villa park, bt were going to be hard pushed to get him judgin by reports earlier on in the transfer window.

it still shows villa have ambition, and iva also herd from a source that we are after santa cruz.

Aston Villa Are Linked With The Spanish Man And It Seem's They Have Put A Bid In, but this information is based on a very unreliable source in Birmingham called Damian.

aha jus read that on wikipedia

No idea how many shirts we've sold so far, but i think the figure will go through the roof the second we have "DE LA RED" or even "LARSSON" to put on the back of them!!

Fact is, the De La Red deal will all hang on Barry leaving, which is seemingly becoming less likely by the day.

Currently our money would be best spent on a right winger or a striker. The last thing we need is an £18m substitute. I'm not normally a party pooper. I'm so excited about Villa this season!! Oh no, i've pissed myself...

Is it me or is Benitez referring, in his ever so unsubtle way, to Stuart Downing, not Barry? I mean, if he wants Barry as his left winger next season then great... because we'll have an easier run at 4th.

My punt on the other player if there is something in DLR would be someone to help him settle. Saviola would fit the bill being a current squad-mate but any decent Spanish speaker would suffice.

It will be a fair signing if we can bag him, although i would rather see us grab a Right Winger first and a headline striker to score 15-20 goals in a season i think Gareth will stay, cant wait to see Young and Shorey in action, Luke Young's goal against tottenham was unbelieveable

Hmmm... the more I ponder... I was at 1st a little disappointed, not because of the quality of De La Red but because of the inevitable rivalry from Arsenal. But then again, the Gunners aren't going to get a ringing endorsement from Reyes and Baptista, guys who DLR would quite plausibly chat with about it.

Of course, Fabregas is a counter to that arguement but he's hinted at moving back to Spain himself. Spurs have other priorities really, especially if Berbatov does go so I can see it.

Santa Cruz rumours might neatly tie in then... ok, they won't know each other but he'd have a fellow Spanish speaker at the club.

Maybe he could bring Sergio Ramos with him as cover for Zat too! (well ok, slightly out of position)

Its been really interesting seeing the opinions of some and the general attitude change over the last few days. Personally all the negativity lead me to reading this site less and less, but now im full of optimism and excitement of the season ahead and once again an avid reader.

And all it took was a simple head f*ck from Damian to restore faith to the masses.

The general consensus seems to be that de la Red would be a great signing...but if it does all turn out to be a myth...im just happy that a few nervous fans (like myself) have gone some way to having there faith restored. :)

£6m is a lot of money for a 29yr old player
I Reckon this is hype a phantom bid knowing we will not land the players but at least it can be said we are trying & they may come at Xmas
This has still happened to late we mat struggle early on. But if we keep barry at least now we can feild a team

DLR will be immense for us. It is such a fantastic signing as he is only 23 as well. A perfect replacement. In fact I wish Barry to be gone if we do get the lad.

My guess for the next ambitious signing is Roque Santa Cruz :)

FatKev - Initially agreed. I thought £6m was alot, but Boro (please correct me if im wrong) bought him for £2.5m once Charlton had been relegated. Any ideas what Shorey would have cost us if Reading had stayed up?

Too be honest, I couldn't care less how much we pay for them as long as they perform on the pitch. Young appears to be the consistant right back we need, a Bouma on the other side so to speak. Surely the two signing can only be a good thing.

Nice one Damien, I've follwed all this really intenetly since you dropped the hint - would be class if we could sign him!

... Then you go and drop another cheeky hint about a second player? Lol, careful, the site will crash if you keep giving us these tasty hints! Anything you can tell us about this second one? Not to be spoilt :P

Damian i dont mean to turn away from the possible de la red transfer, but is there any other possible tranfers about to happen or could happen. Please comment back

i did say this all along! (if u check my previous post)

So you said this news was breaking? Couldn't find it anywhere on the interweb... yet this would be an AWESOME signing - come on O'Neill you good thing!

Also interestingly, saw on the Mail on Sunday website... apparently we've bid 10million for Roque Santa Cruz? O'Neill signing some non-English/American players? Will wonders never cease?

i really dnt wanna get wrapped up in this till it actually has some substance would be great if it happened

Well i must admit, its a little strange that none of the papers have reported the De la Red bid or the Ashton/Ferdinand swoop. Instead there are reports about a bid for Santa Cruz, did you know anything about this bid Damian? Also, how about the apology from Krulak about his comments in regard to the 30mil to be spent on one player.........interesting

Santa Cruz? 10m bid been made?

Villa have an All-England XI can we see what MON is doing. He could not get the england job so now he is going to produce the england squad.

villa have also made a bid for santa cruz 2o goals a season yes please

according to sky sports this morning we're in a 15mil pound battle with man city for ROQUE SANTA CRUZ!!!!!!!!!! :o :o :o :o ;D ;D ;D ;D

oh and also on sky sports the dirty yanks of the scouse scum wont sanction a move for barry!!!!! what a turn around from a couple of weeks ago!! 2 positive defencive signings 1 quality midfield capture and possibly a real threat in front of goal!!!! COME ON VILLA!!!!

Needless to say that this isn't a new name, but sorry Damien, you're sources have been poor as of late, but let's not forget you have told us in the last year of the following gems.

Gordon, Boswinga, Nelson, Bentley, oh and lets not forget you've told us about Daniel Guiza...over and over again.

Poor show i'm afraid.

This is not gonna happen...who is damien? and how does he know? nothing has been reported in the media since this article was written. hope i am wrong but just seems like a unfounded guess to me.

Good point VDave.
At leat we are spending some of learners our & Skys money at last

Krulak is just a puppet trynig to say things to keep Fans Happy.
A waste of Space

FAO Rob H

Look, i don't want to sound negative all the time but i'm a realist...

1)De La Red WONT leave Real Madrid for A Villa, he has a chance of first team football, Champions League Football with some may say the biggest club in the world, if we were a Chelsea or Man U then yeah,maybe he'd come, but come on...is he really going to come to the midlands...NO!!

2)Luke Young, this is a complete smack of desperation, WHY did'nt we sign him last year??..if he's soooo good, another cheap option.

3) why aren't we in the market for a centre forward of some class? Defoe should have been brought in last transfer window, Carew and Defoe up front...hmmm yes please...yet again O'Neill fcuks it up, we could have had Diarra if we had the balls to pay the wages, instead we go for a second rate HONEST midfielder in Sidwell, this guy is AVERAGE at best..

4) Id like to know who the fcuk scouts for us?? ... seems to me the most easiest job in the world, travelling around europe for no reason at all..we're never going to sign somebody decent outside these shores as O'Neill isnt an ambassador or big enough to sell this club to people outside of England... WHO'Neill

5)Are all you preforming seals going to clap and cheer Barry if he stays, come on, he's completely mugging us off, i cannot fathom why when he came on against Odense people were loving him...WHY?? HE DOESNT EVEN WANT TO PLAY FOR US!!!!... gesh..

In response to vogra

1. Quote from Sporting Life. "De La Red has himself been quoted about the possible interest and he admits a move to England is appealing."I haven't shut the door to any club."
2. If we did pay £6m for Luke Young then he is hardly a "cheap option".
3. Read today's papers, reported we bid £10m for Santa Cruz. Also link on this site to Dean Ashton.
4. Scouted Ruben De La Red didn't we?
5. Barry was applauded to try to get him to stay and show how much we value him. Since then he's thrown his toys out of the pram and I doubt he would get such a good reception next time.

It seems to me you're never happy. You moan that we don't bid for top quality players and then when we do, you dismiss the bid as a PR stunt or never going to sign him etc.

vogra .. you are such a whinging little bitch.

I will be happy to eat any eggs and cake on my face if this is pulled off. Thankyou.

I said SANTA CRUZ all along if we get him I will take back everything I ever said negative and break my negative fingers so i can't type any more horseshit. Although I have to see it to believe it. Now hurry up MON I need to break my fingers, any volunteers?

Am I the only one that thinks £10m for Santa Crus is a really... really bad idea?

vivavilla - no you're not alone in thinking that. Santa Cruz was a flop for years in Germany with Bayern, I'm still not convinced he'd be good value for 10m. As for De La Red, this seems to be the only website mentioning him linked to the Villa..concerned...

Don't know the player what a funky a name :D

who is this other player yu mentioned?

Looking at News Now:
LINK League/Aston Villa

It appears that the GB story is going on and on.

Mr RL loved (may still love him) but the american owners of LFC certainly appear not to. They also think they no more about football than the Spanish waiter.

I feel so, so, sorry for their Spanish waiter......!!!

I'll happily do it for you Taglor. Any other bones you're not in need of? ;)

Damian Is there any truth in this rumour or are the papers making things up again.

Sorry the rumour is santa cruz to villa from blackburn.

Im a European football analyst for Opta Sportsdata

and we all rated De La Red last season as one of those players who was exceptional but added to the surplus of Madrid's talent

this is very common for big clubs to shed their squads of quality fringe players, a very strong example is Eto'o leaving Real

I have read we are leading the chase for Santa Cruz, lets clinch it with a £15 mill deal

i can only see 24 comments in this thread, whats going on? fix it!!!!!!!!!!!

santa cruz isn't even that good.
if we bought him hed be on the bench because he ain't as good as gabby or carew so whats the point in buying him cuz we have harewood for backup who i feel sorry for because he doesn't play as much as he should do. we dont need anymore strikers.

How can you say santa cruz isnt that good. He's a twenty goal a season striker of which we are in desperate need of. And with Ashley Young assists can prob score 10 more than that!
Gabby would have to drop on the right or even on the bench, put he will still have plenty of chances with all the cup and european games.

Come on MON i really want this signing!!

Up the Villa

DLR will come and whether Barry leaves or not will not make any difference to the signing. MON will make Barry earn his place, and lets be realistic, with DLR, Sidwell, R Coker and Young, Barry will struggle.

it seems to me now mon bumped his head and signed two players in one day,damian can speculate all he wants cus the villa will be linked with every available player around. he might even guess right,that would make him look good.!!! ;) ;)

im probally the only one who feels this but although both santa cruz and dean ashton are quality players and would more than likely be exceptional for us i feel the liklehood of us actually getting them is not good as dean ashton just signed a 5 yr contract and paul ince clearly doesent want to sell any more players.if we were to get one i would prefer ashton as i feel he is a better player and is arguably better than carew and gabby.if we dont get them i would still be more than happy giving harewood and young delfounsu a chance... come on guys more optimism these are exciting times at this club embrace it UTV

Wow, Santa Cruz? Yes please!

Very nice, anyone guess the price? :P

how come more comments are bein shown, only the 66 that was on here last time.

anyway i would love to gte DLR and santa cruz, anyone know if there is more evidence in the rumour being true.

we have had a 10 mil big for santa-cruz rejected :(
is it true damion

If Santa Cruz and de la Red come, assuming MoN can get the best out of them and injuries are few, haven't we got a real possibility of runnig the top 4 pretty close? At least out-muscling Everton for fifth? Or am I still drunk from last night..

exept this website i havent actually heard anythin about us being linked with de la red since a couple of weeks ago

we wont get santa cruz because blackburn have just signed his brother and the only reason his brother signed is because his brother is there make sense

Damian can you give us an update on any new news mate?

come on damian give us an update on the de la red deal

What a load of sh*te. De la Red isn't going to leave Real with first team opportunities clearly opening up for him. Unless they want to sell him, but let's face it they don't exactly need the dough and they've got a few injuries so WHY SELL HIM?

We aren't going to be able to attract that kind of player until we get into the Champions League. I mean lets be honest we're losing our best player for that very same reason, why would we be able to attract a player who has that opportunity already?

Disappointed Damian Krulak, thought you actually had some news not PR.

Now Santa Cruz is potentially someone who might come to us and one I would welcome.

Stick to the formula MON, players with premiership experience who see a move to Villa as a step up.

Well I thought you said this would hit the papers today, all the papers say is we want santa cruz

Oh well coops, MON had better withdraw the transfer bid for De La Red because you say so! Madrid have got Van Der Vaart and Sneijder so DLR might be available and first team opportunities are NOT opening up for him.

De La Red would be a great signing but santa cruz???? Could he push big john out? MON cant play carew and cruz together. Would prefer Dean Ashton and SWP to come! English talent all the way!

Anyone know the latest on de la red

Damian damian where for art thou damian.
you must be watching you team today? philips has just scored for you.
.
.
.Only joking.
Tell us the crack. you seem to be the only guy who knows anyhting!!!

I think that todays papers were already editor before this story broke so matbe thats what Damo meant.

Hopefully we see some confirmation of the bid in tomorrows papers?

Damo, any updates?

looked every where cant see anything about red hope sum one has something ive missed heart beginning to sink any news any one

Rick Eight - I'd say Santa Cruz would pair perfectly with Carew. He's not worth £10m though.

Coops - Real don't need the cash but they don't exactly need de la Red either.

Steve Logan

Sorry to pick your comment out, but I have to defend myself and the site. You write:
[quote]Gordon, Boswinga, Nelson, Bentley, oh and lets not forget you've told us about Daniel Guiza...over and over again. [/quote]
All those players you are mentioning, apart from Bosingwa and Nelson, were filed under speculataion, i.e. rumours.

Bosingwa and Nelson were not filed under speculation. Last week I had the Bosingwa story confirmed by an ex club official and two weeks after this site told you about Nelson, we had confirmation from Sky Sports.

Granted, maybe it isn't clear that it's filed under speculation, but if you read the post about Guiza it does sort of say in black and white that its a rumour:
[quote]Now, it's not that the club are making an offer or that the club have approached the player; the rumour is that Martin O'Neill is looking at the player.[/quote]
[url]LINK[/url]

Villabiker

Just because it's not getting in all the papers doesn't mean something isn't happening.

We only got the news about Nelson on February 11th - 12 days after the bid was made.

Damian, i can only see the first 24 comments of this thread, help!!!!!!!

realistically all we need is 3 or four more players im hoping we get de la red, swp, ashton, anton ferdinand,and perhaps a young rb as backup foy luke young and then our team will be really strong hopefully a good run in europe. DAMIAN WHATS THE LATEST COME ON M8 SPILL
;)

It seems as if MON is beggining to get his hand dirty in the transfer window now.Ruben De la Red and Santa Cruz would be the real quality we were told about, and im glad to see that at last we seem to be making bids for footballers of this class.If he does pull them off then the talk of him lacking the type of charisma and charm to bring in top quality is wide of the mark.

If the other mystery man isn't Roque Santa Cruz i hope its a winger.
Is the other player as exciting as De la Red??...Does he play in the premier league??

I agree with rdavilla, whilst we seem to be lokking at quality signings, it is a right winger/midfielder we need.

De la Red is quality and if we secure him it will be down to MON and his pedigree. Cruz? you can't argue with last season's goal tally. Come on you Villans.

Damian have you heard anything about Roque Santa Cruz?

Incidentally, have you seen de la Red's Wikipedia page recently? ;D

DeanoBrummie

No, but I should also stress that this type of thing, where we get a little bit of info, doesn't happen often. Maybe five times since we've had this site ...

The Dream Team

[u]Santa Cruz[/u]
He is the man and i would take him anyday of the week?, Carew doesn't score 20 goals Santa does! Aston is good aswell but we will cruz to success with him?

[u]Milner[/u]
Quality player that could do alot for our midfield and wings? I think he wood sign, but crapcastle want to much cash 10m??

[u]Micah Richards[/u]
Well decent defender to replace knight' he needs to call it aday', i like richards alot solid and we should get him but we wont? He'll be very expensive but worth it the mans hungry? I think he support city aswell so thats another factor and he wasn't playing when boro beat city 8-1?

[u]Justin Hoyte[/u]
Competion for rb so get him in aswell, ther's something about this guy that villa need! I dont no what it is but if he is thinking about going to boro? lets put in a bid 'why not

[u]Shaun Wrighty phillips[/u]
Class act, he is a big short but we cant change that, he would play every game at villa??? PLUS his dad told him to join us ages ago great player

[u]Stuart Downing[/u]
We will be playing alot of games this season, it seems everybody in so far wants success great? Everybody on here knows how high i rate Downing the man is going to end up at a big club soon mark my words. Get back on the phone to southgate? my old hero (i play in defence)

p.s i didnt add Rubén de la Red because i don't really know anything about him!

[b]JUST THINK IF WE GOT ALL THESE PLAYER's OUR SQUAD WOULD BE SO FRIGHTENING AND LETHAL. dreams can happen just not villa fans[/b] 8) 8) 8) 8) ;) 8) 8) 8) 8)

Sorry there are loads of posts here so i am not sure if anyone has mentioned it but apperently we are on the verge of signing Santa Cruz for around 12m. And by the way De La Red would be an excellent signing!

damian how confident are you that we will actually get him how long away is the deal to being completed

Marca - Aston Villa prepare bid for De la Red. The Premiership club will hold talks with Madrid officials later today and have prepared an €8 million bid for the versatile midfielder. The player has previously been valued at around €12 million - by Marca - and is also said to be attracting interest from Arsenal.

LINK

Fitzy

Damian is not the manager, like he said he just gets bits of info. He said when he hears anything else he will let us know......which hopefully wont be too long because i am well excited :)

thank you cockneyvillan finally a proper link

Marca - Aston Villa prepare bid for De la Red. The Premiership club will hold talks with Madrid officials later today and have prepared an €8 million bid for the versatile midfielder. The player has previously been valued at around €12 million and is also said to be attracting interest from Arsenal.

i know this is off topic but does anyone know when villa park is going to be done up to make it a 50,000 seater stadium

Come on MON sign the players we need!!

why this say 172 comments on home page and 84 here

pprid- you need to log-out on the home-page and then log-in again on the comments page. I find that this works. But it is a pain in the arse.

God i'm so bored 2day that i'm reading every comment as it appears!

FAO Keef and K4AVFC..
What i'm doing is stating my opinion which if you dont like it then thats fair enough, me and u want the best, The reason why i bitch so much is because IMO we are soooo close to be really challenging to get this club so close to actually REALLY challenging the top 4, Are you honestly going to tell me De La Red will leave Real Madrid for us??.....
Luke Young,would have cost us 2.5mill last year...what we paying for him now??? ...as i said desperation signing.

To move this club forward we need to be doing better than signing Luke Young...

It makes me laff when we sign some players all of you lot come out the woodwork and slag of me and taglor and say..."LOOK" we've just signed someplayers, wake up..these players should have been brought into the fold weeks ago to inter great into the side, have you seen that we can only register 1 player for the next game in Europe..hmmm who will it be??

On the Santa Cruz bid, thats rubbish, IF we are offering only 10mill then as you will agree is a laff, Are Blackburn going to sell a 22goal scorer in the for that??....... Come on.... why not for once instead of fcuking around offer 15mill and if they won't sell for that then fair enough move on..

Barry, I completely agree of what we are doing, why should we back down with the price, id rather play a youth or second team player than bring barry on against Odense, he doesnt want to play for us...i would rather stick this fcuker in the stands..He's completely tarnished 9years of good service..

"Rick Eight - I'd say Santa Cruz would pair perfectly with Carew. He's not worth £10m though.

Coops - Real don't need the cash but they don't exactly need de la Red either."

VivaVilla - Aren't Real basically in more debt than anyone else in the world but the Spanish bank-rollers won't ever call in the debt? I would suggest they need the cash big time.

Fitzy - I would imagine whehn we consistenly sell out the ground we've already got. At Villa v Chelsea last season - when we beat them 2-0, we pulled in around 6,000 less than capacity. I wouldn't say it made great business at the moment to add another 7,000 seats but hopefully within the next decade. There is already a great atmosphere when we're on song, imagine it with all the corners filled in!

Vogra-
Sureley the fact that we are bidding for these kind of players is a step forward. And secondly, MON would not let slip how much he is bidding so lets reserve the right to judge the price until a bid is confirmed!
I also happen to think that Shorey is an excellent signing, and Young is not perhaps as good but still a descent signing. You can't rate a player until you see the job they do for your team.

Sporting life: "Reports in Spain suggest Aston Villa have lodged a £9.5million for Real Madrid midfielder Ruben De La Red."
This would be a great piece of business at this price.

Where you have filed the stories and tranfer links is irrelavent though, the theme is common, and to quote, this story is filed under 'speculation'.

"We told you about Bruno Alves before anyone and Daniel Guiza but this one is old, but according to a source, it's as good as done"

LINK

I would say your writings there suggest that it is more than speculation. Hopefully for your and your sites sake, I hope your source this time is more reliable, else we can expect another negative post the following day when it all falls through with the headline lead saying NOT GOOD ENOUGH.....

vogra no offence mate but i really cant see your point here fair enough its your opinion and i know you want the best for the club but who knows maybe de la red will join us mon has that effect on players and personally i believe your criticism of luke young is very harsh yes he may be slightly overpriced but he will do a very good job for us i guarentee that. please for once and taglor too try be a bit more positive about this wonderful football club we have came from 16th to 11th to 6th we are playing european football we have a fantastic manager a man i cannot praise enough and a chairman who clearly has the club at his heart not to mention the new training ground and so on what do you people want doug ellis and david o leary back then you would have somethin to complain about......UTV

I just want to know if anyone has seen de la red play, cause I had never heard of him before, and apparently he has only had one descent season on loan at gatafe or someone like that, before everyone starts whinging at me, I'm not being negative, just interested to know what type of player he is, and how good he really is.

Vogra
What are you bitching about? You want us to sign better players but then slag MON off for trying to do just that! You do not know if DLR will sign for us unless you know him. Do you? No so just sit back and see.
I think it is apparent that MON wanted to sign Nelson as his RB. Obviously that deal isn't happening and so after waiting for a year MON has looked for an alternative. Young is a very good RB and will improve the team. Maybe MON wasn't convinced last year but after a good season with Boro he has decided to buy.
You do not know what the offer is for Santa Cruz, if any, so how you can complain about the amount is beyond me!

Pathetic

wat a load a bullshit damien, we deserve better info, not crap that u lot put on!!!

guys ease off damian im sure when he gets more info he'l tell us.

villa villa

why do you deserve better info and what make syou think this is bullshit.

from day one, bascailly this week, i've said that this is from the same source that told me about bosingwa and nelson - both of these were true

i'm not saying we are signing him - i'm saying martin o'neill wants him

why do you deserve anything other than that? i don't owe you or anybody else anything. if you think it's bullshit, then dont come on here and leave stupid comments that you deserve something.

please be Miguel, please please please :)

Those of you that come on here and basically call Damian a liar this is pretty disingenuous. It's a blog, and he is passing on certain information he can share that is exciting; even if it doesn't come off, it shows we are moving in the right direction and doing what we can to really up the quality of the team. If all you are going to do is to come on and accuse him of lying, then stay away. Don't waste everyone's time.

Those such as Taglor, who are perenially pessimistic, are entitled to their view, even if we don't agree with it (Taglor would likely call a half full glass verging on empty), so that's fine. Football is all about contrasting opinions after all.

But for those who come on only to insult and accuse, you are not welcome or wanted!

How does anyone expect Damian to provide additional information, hen he's being slagged off - what's his incentive? :'(

Well said Damian

AVMark - What is pathetic?

Villa Villa - What info you want? Villa to sign Ronaldo for £1m maybe?

No point anyone taking frustrations out on Damien.
He got some info., from what I can undersatnd, from a previously reliable source and broke the news to us as soon as possible without jeopardising any potential deal or spoiling relations with his source. Damien has not Bull S...'d anyone and has held back from telling people what they wan to hear just for sake of it. BID IN, NO NAME TILL FURHER NOTICE.Just cus stuff ain't plastered all over news does not mean MON is not working hard to make things happen. And if anything, Damien's little teaser and subsequent Santa Cruz info. tells us MON is trying to make the right things happen and not just sighning anyone.PS happy with all signings so far this window, for reasons others have already mentioned.
Also, MON ,if does spend big on one player, needs to be 110% sure. Because u could read between lines on Krulaks 30mil. boast, and say yeah moneys there but its MON choice and if turns out to be nightmare player, then thats ALL down to MON.
Sorry if a little garbled, but we all know what positions we need players in, as does MON, but he has to strike balance between who he wants,who wants to come and what is available at what time. I'm confident money is there but unlike Chelski cannott afford to get a SWP at 21mil and sell for 8mil,that would be crap business.
last rant, I for one do not care if Loanapool can't afford Barry. He has made it clear he wants to go and not play for Villa( TWICE) so swap him, stick him in reserves or loan to LUTON TOWN to try and help NICK OWEN!!!

Thanks for keeping us informed Damien!!!

Even if we don’t manage to capture De la Red it is still a massive positive for all us Villa fans that we are chasing players of his calibre. MON has come under massive criticism for not going out and buying loads of players for 10million each.
when he did spend big on Young he was criticised for buying a unproven player… now look at him!
He is terrorising every team we play and is only behind Ronaldo in terms of on the ball skill and was only behind Cesc last year in assists.

He has cleared out the deadwood of a team battling for survival and built a team capable of beating Chelsea 2-0 at Villa Park and taking points of both Arsenal and Liverpool. the only team we’ve continuously struggled against is United, but we’ve not beaten them in over 10 years in the league.

When he arrived we called him the Messiah. That’s not changed in my opinion.

We are back playing European Football. Have a stating line-up as good as any in the premiership… Yes a small squad but filled with talented players. I’d prefer 20 top quality players than 30 money hungry no good footballers.

Our academy is flourishing, our training grounds immense, our stadium filled on the weekends, our team are playing attractive flowing football not seen in Villa park for a long time.

Sure we want additions to the team but we don’t want just anyone.

Yes MON has taken risks that haven’t cost much money… Salifou, Routledge and Maloney, and yes it’s taken them a little while to adjust to life at Villa park, but they have been our best players in pre-season.

So lets stop with the negativity and moaning…
Gone are the days of Deadly Doug…
Gone are the days of boring defensive football…

Now we’re linked with world class players…
We’ve a world class manager…
We’ve a chairman who will back him all the way…
And… We have a team!!!
We won’t win the league this year, but we’ve in with a chance of top 4...
With that comes great opportunities and makes us even more attractive to the best players

The future is bright… the future is Villa!

Guys, guys, guys... Give Damian a break.

I for one am glad to have had these threads to follow over the past couple of days. Another poster said that if the only outcome is the increased positivity amongst fans, then so be it - and I agree. Yes, it may have been better to leave it until the ink had dried but it's quite natural to want to be the messenger when you can be.

Roll back a few days before these threads and before Luke and Nicky signed. A lot / all of us were feeling nervous. Now I feel confidence that even if it doesn't come off, MON is aiming high... which is probably the best reason there is for a lack of activity in my book. I know, I know Taglor! ;-)

I'm pretty new to the site and to be honest, it was my appetite for some snippets that brought me here but one of the things that first struck me was the openness when one of the first posts I read a few weeks back was carefully introduced with the 'speculation' caveat.

I must admit, I've been looking directly at the Marca website and I can't find the article that Balague refers to on his site. My guess is that the figures they give actually put this in the 'old news' category because a similar bid was reported widely a week or two ago - but on one of the other threads on this site, it looks closer to £12M. If that puts it under the radar, so much the better if it means he signs!

I know we all want to know how much to get carried away and we shouldn't really, I guess, but wouldn't it be great? But if it doesn't, thanks all the same Damo, your integrity will still be intact.

I can understand those who are downbeat about our prospects of getting them and for me there's plenty of room for Taglor's comments here. We all have our different views on players but we all want the best for our club. Let's not bash someone for just trying to ease our agony ahead of what is a crucial year for Villa.

UTV

well said Irish Villain, managed to make the point without my garble!!! maybe i should be johno'flannelly

great point irish villan wow i thought i was the only villa fan in ireland everyone is a gloryhunter where i live i take a lot of stick for being a fanatical villa fan to but i do defend them with my life lol...

UTV

Villa Villa you're getting confused this is one man's Villa Blog. I think you may have been looking for www.samaritans.org.uk[url][/url]

nan was a fan... sorry mate you are wrong. Villa Villa was looking for LINK

damian. i am mons biggest fan and quite possible yours.
in a completely hetro sexula manner. i love you and mon and soon maybe salifou. you are randy charlie's angels and you are the ginger one.

ps. i hope doc isn't the gealous type. i know you and him have a special relationship. but you know three is a croud and the thought of a blogger, a doc and a general (krulak) all in bed together..... you can get arrested for that sh t.

Keef, I wasn't having a go at Damian he can say what he likes and if it gets a reaction that's the point isn't it. I just find the whole transfer thing this season particularly sad. Despite our history and the great recent strides all it boils down to is how much money are we spending and hopefully is it someone with an exotic name. RL and MON zeros to heroes again.

Look at the recent news concerning Man C (dodgy chairman) and Portsmouth (debt). No one gives a sh*t they just want to be spending all that money. This club needs a heart and soul, passion and loyalty - instead we act like whores.

hope the rumours come to fruition, we desperatly need to sign some top class players, players that will make other teams think we are serious challengers. problem is, if they want more money than Martin No-deal thinks they are worth, it will indeed be 'NO-DEAL', i.e bosingwa, nelson, bently.
no more average joes please, Mr No-deal.

to irish villan.

please explain to me & others how you have come to the conclusion we have a 'world class' manager.
what is your definition of world class?

corexion too mi prevus poast. kids doant drink steller it maques yu unabel tu shhpel and makesh shu schler yur worls

Don't know if anyone has posted this before, also not sure how old it is...

LINK

Interesting. The tide is finally turning and people are beginning to see that maybe MON, RL et al were not actually feeding us crap to sell season tickets or out to make a quick buck. Wonderful, long may it continue.

In defence of Taglor his negative posts are usually quite amusing and, I think, are sometimes said with a little tongue in cheek manner. The same cannot be said for others who are obviously intent on trying to make something negative out anything, regardless of how utterly ridiculous it makes them sound.

mon if your reading this please sign swp, ashton or santa cruz not fussy de la red and anton ferdinand. now im going for a nice beer down the local ha did u c wat i done there

Why wont this blog let me see more than 72 comments (where I left it last night)?? This is driving me mad damian its happenend a couple of times in the last week, please can you explain what is going on??!!!

Ctrl and f5 together should refresh your page better to see the comments

althogh as i was once pointed out how do you expect to see the answer if you cant see the post ;D ;D ;D ;D

my nan was a fan or fanny?

ur gran is probably damien!!!

Liverpool Football Club have today released the following press statement.
Liverpool FC Chief Executive Rick Parry said: "There has been a lot of comment today regarding our position with regards to Gareth Barry.

"This is not about questioning the Manager's judgement or the ability of a particular player. The owners have clearly demonstrated throughout the year they are willing to back Rafa in the transfer market and will continue to do so.

"It is obviously the selling club's prerogative to put whatever price they want on the player, but on this occasion Liverpool think the price quoted is too high."

Translated : We can't afford him but won't admit that so we'll say he costs too much!

I don't think the people are complaining about the news, i'm certainly not, i'm first and foremost a Villa fan, and I only want what is good for the club.

My issue is 'stories' like this, are all the same. The Blog is very quick to critisise other outlets whenever they misreport information, and stories like this are always done out of smugness and the owners don't stop banging it's drum, i.e. 'we were the first to tell you', 'don't forget we told you about X', but when it doesn't come off it goes in the 'speculation' column, and the site and it's owner seem to think that they can continue misreporting information.

yea thanks i logged out got all replies, not read all, will tomorrow as party and beer and reading dont mix, but just want to say that 6m for a 29 year old in a position hard to fill might seem like desperation to some but to me sounds like someone thinking of going forward quicker than they expected, the doc said about our ambitions for 2011 but maybe the barry situation has made the the management and owner realise we gotta be up there sooner than this to keep our better players and paying more than some might believe to be right the simple fact is we need it now dont matter if he is 29 if he can have 1 or 2 good seasons for us then where will we be then and will 6m look like pennies, utv sorry if i bored ya

can managent on here put somewhee on main page to log out so that people can see all replies please only not everyone will find out how to see them, thanks

Thanks Fitzy... I'm a Corkman, a Irishman and a Villan... and fanatical all the way... Used to take aload of stick from the Man U / Arsenal / Chelski glory hunters but always held my head up high... UTV
;D

Moan, moan moan. That's all people do around here. To suggest that Damian was planted by Villa's PR staff is just dumb.

Apologies this has nothing to do with De La Red but there has been too much negative talk here about Villa not doing this and not doing that I just though I’d say that:

All us fans must be proud of how our team is run.

Man U is run on borrowed money by a family who think a football is oval... Arsenal are 400 million or so in debt and by their own managers admission will have to sell their best players for the next decade or two just to stay secure.. Chelski are run by a tyrant who has lost more than the national income of most countries in the past 4/5 years… Liverpool are being run by dumb and dumber who can’t scrape two coins together, who had to borrow the money for Torres and Babel(who still aren‘t paid for)… Mike Ashley is looking to get out of Newcastle as quick as he got in… Pompy look like they are skint… Man City are owned by a man whose financial dealings sound a little bit suspect to say the least… Spurs are spending left right and centre on players like always who play as individuals and never as a team…The Hammers can’t buy and can’t afford to keep up with most of their players wages… And Everton are struggling on the financial front too.

Villa on the other hand are financially never better… filling Villa Park for every home game…Selling all their allocations on away days… Are owed by a passionate, intelligent and respected FAN who instead of taking millions for sponsorship has decided in a stroke of genius to pay for Villa to put a charity’s name on our jersey.

I have never seen so many of the new jerseys been worn about the place and I’m living in Ireland. It looks to me that every Villa fan… old and young has seen what Villa are trying to achieve and gone out and bought the new jersey.

Villa are performing on the pitch… 05/06 finished 16th … 06/07 finished 11th… 07/08 finished 6th… 08/09 well we’ll have to see but we can all dream… but top 4 is a definite possibility.

And we are definitely performing off the pitch. Villa should be held up as the model for all clubs… not just a business but a community and a family.

In Randy we trust,,, In Martin we believe…

Up the Villa… bring on the future!

Irish_Villan...you made a lot of sense in your previous post. Fair play to you mate.

GMJ....agree with your post too, but careful not to insult Tags man, he's a legend

Doesn't anyone remember us blogging about Santa Cruz on here even before Blackburn got him? Without trying to do a search for the particular thread from long ago, I'm sure i posted some you tube footage or bigged him up in some way on here (must have been just after Fitzgerald said we were after world class players). He was available then for i think about £3m, but...he went to Blackburn with apparently no interest shown by us. I thought for that money with his pedigree he would be good and look how well he did last season, but unfortunately not for Villa ! However, I don't think MON would want him for anything like the money being talked about £10m?? £15M???. He's good but not £15m good !

Don't be too quick to slag Damo about this De La Red rumour either lads. He could very well be right, i can certainly see it happening because he fits the bill so nicely. I know i wanted Diego but i can dream can't I?

It's just nice to think that we are seriously trading in the transfer market after a few months of nothing. The 2 new lads will be good for us and have improved our current defensive situation 100% just by signing ! I really do have high hopes for these two in the villa shirt (they are both England Internationals !)

Anyway, here's hoping for a few more additions in the next few days. Show De La Red around Brum, but in a limo with blacked out windows so it looks like that London !

UP THE VILLA ;)

looking back on the last post...i can confirm i would like to see Diego at Villa Park and any dreams I may have regarding the said player will be of a footballing nature !

UTV
;)

AV33 - What exactly made you think santa cruz would have been a good signing before he came to Blackburn.
his goal scoring record before last season is absymal.
I would be happy to sign him now but its still a risk as numerous players have had one good season scored 15-20 goals then found the following seasons much harder.

Oh my god your right it's all over the papers this morning ,Villa to sign Del la red ........................ NOT !!!!!!!!!!!!!

The latest rumor is Joe Cole Now that would be an awsome transfer!!!!!!!!

I for one am glad this is not plastered all over the tv/stroke media as all it would do is draw unwanted attention to our targets and alert other potential suitors to players.
Why would we want arsenal and the bottomless pit that is tottenham to know that the player was open to a move by talking to club officials?
i for one feel that although he may have not signed all the 'dream' players we want, at least MON always seems to conduct transfer dealings in the correct way.
also i for one am glad of this site and the people who write on its dedication to the football club, it is by far the most informative and enjoyable Av site out there.
I have been reading info and post on here for about a year or so and this is still only my third comment (i think!)
Thats because i learnt from a young age thats its better to keep quiet and let people think you may be stupid, rather than talk and have them proved right! a few commentors on here should let that sink in.

Tonebone...bit harsh wasn't it mate? I was simply highlighting the fact that we could have got Santa Cruz for the kind of money that Blackburn paid for him a long time ago and he has since been really good for them.
I'm against the idea of buying him now for silly money. I was just trying to remind the people on here who are talking about big money rumours for him that we have mentioned him a long time ago on this blog and we could have got him a lot cheaper then if we wanted him.
I'm not even promoting the idea of us buying him, simply attempting to inform / remind people of this.
But in reply to your question, what exactly made Mark Hughes think he would be a good signing all that time ago ?

UP THE VILLA ;)

DavyA: source of the rumor?

There has not been much of this in the papers at all although a paper in Madrid has reported it. I would love it to be true obviously but there is a long way to go from preparing a bid and signing a player. Damien on a scale of 1-10 how reliable is this source and how much credibility does he or she have. Just so we can have an idea

DAMIAN....

ON THE HOMEPAge IT SAYS THIS ARTICLE HAS 221 COMMENTS... YET WHEN YOU ENTER IT IT SAYS IT ONLY HAS 18? WHERE ARE THE REST???

nothing in the papers at all about this, or anything coming out of spain. red herring i think.

stig

there was nothing in the papers or on the web until february 11th when it came to nelson

it was also two days after we told you about bosingwa before the papers got hold of it

i have no reason whatsoever to doubt the person that told me this and as such, stand by it .. it's also pretty well known that martin o'neill likes to do things in private - look at his annoyance about the liverpool bid for barry getting leaked

In response to Steve Wood...
O'Neill has had success at nearly every club he has managed (I won’t even go into his experience he picked up as a player which I’m sure your aware of is also exceptional)
The one club that he has not had great success at is Norwich for which he only stayed half a season and did not receive the backing of the chairman.
As for his record with other clubs it speaks for itself… O’Neill has learned his trade from the bottom and moved to the top of his profession.
Wycombe Wanderers F.C. 1990–1995
Football Conference – 1993
FA Trophy – 1991, 1993
Division 3 Play–Off Winners – 1994
Leicester City F.C. 1995–2000
Winners
Promotion to Premier League – 1995/96
League Cup;(2) 1997,2000
Runners-up
League Cup – 1999
Celtic F.C. 2000–2005
Winners
SPL Championship (3) – 2000/01, 2001/02, 2003/04
Scottish Cup (3) – 2001, 2004, 2005
Scottish League Cup (1) – 2000/01
Runners-up
UEFA Cup Runner-Up – 2002/03
Scottish Cup – 2001/02
Scottish League Cup – 2002/03
SPL Championship – 2002/03 , 2004/05
Add to that 5 Premier League manager of the Month Awards, 9 Scottish Manager Awards, 3 Manager of the year awards and over a 54% of all games won.

Now I don’t now about you but for me I’d consider that World Class…

If your still a doubter… Martin O’Neill made Emile Heskey look such a good player that Liverpool paid £11million pounds for him.

If your still not convinced than that is your right… But as a Villa fan you should give him a chance… he has not done us wrong yet… Would you prefer Taylor? O’Leary?

Or perhaps we should bring back Venglos?

But at the end of the day… he is our manager and I think most Villa fans would like that to continue for the foreseeable future!

Well said Irish_Villan !!

he is our mystery player ive heard about him before the mystery player ballshit even started so this is barely a mstery player at all but i do think he is a quality player though and a very talented player

Damian

You might remember I really did not want to get involved in this issue - but I did.

I have no problems at all with what you posted.

However being a nosey git I would like to know what tipped you from not telling who was the mystery player was to telling us it was The Red.

Obviously you thought the story was going to break but to date there has been no mention. I also think originally you said that perhaps the full story would not be out until Sunday.

I have no reason that it will still happen.

But what I would like to know is what tipped you from not being able to tell to actually tell?

But, if this compromises your source, I understand that you cannot answer the question.

Keep up the good work.

(This post is serious - but as you talk about going to the pub - I also drink at a pub who has it's own micro brewery - so let me know if you a fancy a proper pint of beer - the pub also sells "Wife Beater" just in case you are a lager lout!

fitzy he is good so good he got called up for the spanish national team in the euro 2008 and plays for the spanish olmpics team this is how good he is V4L

Holte1970
On Friday night, I got an email from someone who writes for a website and his remit is Spanish football.
He has heard the same thing and wanted to know what I knew as his website/paper will not publish just speculation - they are waiting for a quote - all they were getting (on Friday night) was 'no comment'.
He said he thought he was going to get a quote tomorrow (Saturday) hence why I got out my phone and typed this up.

joe cole aint happening, villa would give the funds and first team football but chelsea and england has gone to his head, he wouldnt drop down so to speak.

but this ruben de la red, villa have a premiership game on sunday and although are squad is good, we need more quality in. what if young or laursen gets injured. we need about 3 more signings, quality, to get us to be able to challenge for 5th spot again,

well done damien, its sunday now and i have bought every paper out there and not 1 fucking story about de la red!! awesome sources you have.

Thanks Damian for the answer.

Assume you are away - hope it's holiday - enjoy.

to irish villan

i notice that most of martin no-deals success has come in the spl with celtic. lets face it there isn't much competition for him there. a place where gordon strachen is doing a similar thing at present, would you call him 'world class' i think not. all of martin's success has been no different to most average managers.the odd league cup or lower league promotion

do you think a world class manager would sign the likes of:
zat knight
stillion petrov
mustaffa salifu
wayne routledge
marlon harewood
shaun mallony
nigel reo joker
only 2 of his transfers have really paid off, big john & ash young.
don't get me wrong i think he is a great motivator of players, he needs to be with some of the dross he has bought.

to prove he is world class he needs to bring success to villa on a regular basis & in the english prem league not that league of part timers in jockland.
there is only one 'world class' manager in the prem, and it sticks in my throat to say it, thats ferguson.
i agree he had a gret mentor in cloughie and if he turns out to be half as good as he was, i'll be happy.
i'm sorry mate, good he maybe, world class, no-way, (not yet)

lets see him sign some world class players or even top prem class players, lets see if he can manage them properly, then i might start to think different.

bye the way, i admire your support of martin no-deal, it's great, it's probably because he's a fellow 'celt'
but don't get blinded by the light.

he's got a lot to prove before he can be classed as anything other than 'another premiership manager', and he would be the first to admit it.
i hopr he does and i hope it's with the villa.

Steve I’ve been thinking for about the last 20 minutes of how to respond to your last comment, and I must admit it’s taken me one or two drafts to be happy with what I want to say and for it to come across in the way I want it to!

Knight… Yes he’s had his moments… he’s been at fault for a few goals but what defender hasn’t… He’s experienced and will give 110% every time he pulls on the claret and blue.

Petrov… Proven and experienced player who has not always got it right in the last 2 seasons but has shown the touches of brilliance that he was signed for. I believe that this will be a big season for him.

Salifou… We’ve not see much of him but Adebayor claims he is the Togolese Zidane… If he is half the player as ZZ we have a good player on our books.

Routledge… Best player in pre-season who when at Palace was being touted as a future England winger, unlucky with injury at spurs but can be our solution on the right

Harewood… I was wondering why too… but seeing him coming off the bench and running his heart out, chasing every ball and chipping in with good goals he is a vital acquisition especially with us being able to name 7 subs next season.

Maloney… 2006 Scottish player of the year, 2006 Scottish young player of the year and 2006 Players Player of the year… suffered from home sickness yes and has admitted himself it has effected his form but can make and score goals… Remember the 4-4 with Chelsea?

Reo-Coker… He’s not the most skilful player, he’s not the fastest, he’s not a right back or right mid but he is the work horse and engine that every football team needs. He’ll give his all and lead by example and is a good shout for captain this season.

As for Young and Carew I don’t need to say anything.

You call yourself a Villa fan… so be that… a fan!

Yes you might kick every ball, argue every refereeing decision, celebrate every goal and cry at every loss… but so does every fan… We’ve all spent our money on tickets / travelling to and from games/ jersey’s and merchandise. We’ve supported our team through the good times and the bad.

Us Villa fans can’t be accused of supporting the team cause we win everything or because we are the worlds biggest club. We support the club for love.

And by the way, my nationality has nothing to do with my support of O’Neill… I have followed Aston Villa for many many many years, seen good times and bad times and even terrible times. Experienced euphoria and cried tears of joy and sadness.

But every player who goes out on match day and wears the Villa shirt, every manager, coach, board member or chairman… even the ball boys or girls have my 110% support. If they didn’t I couldn’t call myself a fan.

Joe Cole, Ruben de la Red, Wright-Phillips, Ashton, Ferdinand, Doyle, Huntelaar, Miguel, Swienstieger, Nelson, Diego… all good players, would I love to see them playing for Villa, yes of course… but until they sign they are not villa players and until they are sold, the likes of Petrov, Knight, Harewood, Routledge, Maloney and Salifou ARE Villa players and will be supported all the way!

Even Barry will be cheered and applauded for putting in good performances and even if he has a bad one…

And don’t knock O’Neill’s achievements in Scotland or England, I believe that if personal circumstances didn‘t force him to leave Celtic he would still be there and they would be giants of not only Scottish and British Football but of European and World Competition!

I’m sure if he had Man U’s appeal and financing at any club he would be more successful… Don’t forget, Sir Alex was up for the sack before he won the FA cup in 89/90!

So finally in closing, I ask you, one Villa fan to another, stop moaning, stop criticising, support OUR team!

VILLA TILL THE DAY I DIE!

The only place this story has broken is on here. I do hope it comes off though, but De la Red is quoted as wanting to stay at Real:

There have been numerous rumours stating that Arsenal are intending to make a serious bid for Real Madrid's young midfielder Ruben De La Red, but he has publicly stated that he committed to to spending next season with Real Madrid.

The 23-year-old has returned to the Bernabeu after impressing while on loan at Getafe last season and is determined to make his mark with the Spanish champions . . .

. . . De la Red told reporters: "I have received offers from England and Spain, but I am very calm. I discard the option of leaving Real."

"I'm ready to prove my worth. Youth system players are always asked to play for other teams in order to gain experience and I played a lot last season.

"I think I've covered what the club expected from me and I hope to do what I did at Getafe now that I'm back."

LINKextend.1481

Reports eminating in the Spanish press are reporting Aston Villa of the English Premier League have placed two large bids with Valencia for two of Valencia's first team regulars. At this moment in time there are no names mentioned, but a press conference will be held at C.F.Valencia this evening. :o

'Reports eminating in the Spanish press are reporting Aston Villa of the English Premier League have placed two large bids with Valencia for two of Valencia's first team regulars.'

This would tie in with reports of a Premier League manager being at Valencia last week (the time MON was in Spain with the squad!)

keep it up MON!

Do you have a link for the Valencia speculation??

i take it as i havent heard anythin regarding the de la red rumour, its a no go?

claret and blue hornet any links?

irish villa, i also bleed claret & blue & have done for forty-odd years. the phrase 'world class' is used too sparingly these days, martin certainly isn't world class, i hope he becomes world class & i hope it's at villa.

bye the way, i am not moaning, i just want whats best for my club, i want us to be able to compete with the so-called big 4.
i/we have all had enough of the ellis days of oppression, this era has been a long time coming, i like you wouldn't want it spoilt be the managers under-stated signings.

it's time we launched ourselves on to the big stage, everything seems to be almost in place off the pitch, we now need it on the pitch.
being critical or wanting the best isn't moaning, it's 'longing'. you only improve by being self critical, bettering the positives & improving the negatives.
we need better players than we already have to improve, the list i gave you, i don't think, are better than what we had.
as i said, it's time martin o'niel took the bull by the horns to show us & other teams we/he means business.

on martin o'niel or any other villa manager, i have always supported them to the hilt, i just think martins transfer policy/dealings to date is less than convincing....i hope he proves me wrong, if he does i'll be the first to admit it.

see you in iceland on thursday....come on you lions!!!!!!!!

Fair point steve, and the signings will come and i hink are coming. Wish i coould be in Iceland... if only i could talk my other half into going on our hols alone and letting me off to watch the Villa in Europe in person

It is being reported on Spanish radio in the last half hour that C.F Valencia have accepted a bid from Aston Villa for winger Joaquin, and that Joaquin will be flying to the Uk on Friday for a medical. This story won't lie down here, but this is the first time that it has been stated that a bid has been accepted. Makes one wonder if this is may be why Celluar was purchased in order to pursade Joaquin to come with one of his own in the camp so to speak.

Spanish tv are now reporting that Aston Villa have had a bid for Valencias Joaquin accepted. Was this a clever ploy by Mon in getting Cuellar on board prior to making the bid for Joaquin

For the record, Villaclaret, is actually in Spain.

although, I will say, i'm not finding anything on the web and if its on the radio and tv, it would be on the web

i hope it does happen ... i guess we'll just have to wait and see

Well it's been a couple of hours and it's not on the net anywhere so a load of tosh... a bit like the "little bit that isnt out that we're aware of" that Damian hasnt shed any little on since he published the above article...

Damian do you have some more news yet

anymore news or are you just going to delete my post as you have been doing.

why do half the comments disappear on this blog

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4 months later..... he doesnt appear to have signed Damian!?!?!?

what a brilliant source!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4 months later..... he doesnt appear to have signed Damian!?!?!?

what a brilliant source!