Wednesday, 20 June 07, 02:39 AM · Comments (25)
I'm on chance forty-eight with the missus at the moment and I've probably gone a lot higher with other people, so I reckon Diego Forlan deserves another chance in the Premiership and according to the Daily Mail, we're about to make a £15mn. bid.
Now, it's in the Daily Mail and there are no direct quotes from anyone that I can see that actually mention Aston Villa but you can hope can't you, that is if you'd like Diego Forlan at Aston Villa?
Personally, I like Forlan. If only because of his record before and after his time at Manchester United I think most have to. Since his time in the Premiership he's scored a goal every other game and before arriving at Old Trafford it was as good as that at Independiente in Argentina.
Now, this I'm sure is going to cause a debate today because while at United he only scored 12 goals in 63 matches but don't forget Manchester United play a very specific type of football.
I'd have him; only because we've got significant funds so if it doesn't work it doesn't work and we can probably get our money back to a Spanish or Italian team.
Anyway, it's pure speculation, but I'd like him and if we're getting seven or eight players of similar quality I'm going to be very very happy. Better or worse than Harewood?
Aston Villa in Europe
25 Comments · Add yours
A quality player in my eyes. Hard working goalscorer with a wee bit of pace and CL experience. Better than Marlon who? Haha, i suspect he is!
£5mn for Harewood or £15 for Forlan... it would be Forlan for me anytime !
Marlon much better value for money. They'd score the same amount! 4m for Marlon so come on Martin!
Anyone that has seen spanish football the last three years know of his extreme qualities. A proven goalscorer. Was also Top scorer a season.
check that record:
LINK
Forlan would be aquality signing. he would definatley work well with carew up front. Apparently also we are in talks with ajax about signing Ryan Babel and Wesely Sniejder and ajax want 18 mil for the duo. i say letsgo for it if we sign these three players, then we won't be far behind Tottenham or Livrpool!
my mother is spanish and her family are football fans so i get to watch alot of spanish football.
forlan is class, he is a totally different player now to his days and united. consistently a 20 goal plus man since he has been in spain, worth the money and a definate signal of intent.
prefer him to harewood who to me is just another heskey
at Nick123 ..
spot on. they would be 3 class signings ... with three more we'd be in for a very decent season
Forlan and Sneijder true, they would be great signings. Babel however I have strong doubts, I don't think he's a player that could take us up another level, definitely not better than Luke, Gabby, Ashley or Maloney.
Forlan yes - but not at £15m ffs!
He has looked good since he left United and just because he didn't fit in doesn't mean he's not good.
£15mn. if probably spot on value for him, i'd much rather strengthen all areas with lesser talent than spend that much on one player though.
Plus Forlan is playing Champions League football...we won't be for a while yet, it's taken Tottenham 3 attempts and they are much higher class than us.
Give us 5 years and we'll be signing a Forlan in every position.
The difference between Harewood & Forlan is vast. OK there is a risk that Forlan could flop again but he could also rise to the challenge of having a point to prove. He clearly has the skill and ability to be the goal scoring machine we need but he will need to score goals from the off otherwise he may lose his confidence and find the pressure too much, which is what I think happened at ManU.
He's an excellent player (minus the Man U years), but would he want to be a squad player at the Villa?
Also, on the subject of the 'significant funds' the trouble is many clubs now have significant funds and with Villa unable to offer european football this season this surely hinders us in bringing in big name players. Yeah we have a fine set up, an excellent manager and a good base for the future but players are notorious for wanting things now.
Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs, Newcastle, West Ham are all cash rich and soon the Bluenoses, Blackburn and Man City will probably have some significant investment too.
I can't really see us bringing in many (if any) big name players this close season unfortunately.
Centre half, right back, goal keeper, up and down midfielder in that order - if we have 15m to waste on a striker who doesnt even give us cover for Carew (which is our only gap up front) I hope that means we have another 60m left over.
forlan NOOOOOOOO
dizzy mugs ..... just to clear something up, he is playin UEFA cup football not champions league
Harewood is a donkey!
He's had one half decent season with West Ham (the season before last) & other than that has done nothing.
I'd go for Forlan every time.
As a good example both Savo Milosevic and Juan Pablo Angel are two Villa players who before and after they played for us have done very well indeed.
So the comments about Forlan are spot on, certain players play very well at certain clubs. Its true that Manchester United play a certain type of football all clubs do but some players just don't always take to well to certain styles.
If he comes I'll be open minded like always and give everyone a fair crack at showing what they have.
There has been a lot of rumours lately personally I'll believe it when I see it.
as a valencia season ticket holder have seen forlan twice home and away and to be honest he is poor and defo not worth 15 mil maybe they missed the decimal point out because 1.5 is much closer to the mark. for 15 million there is much better strikers in spain ......and why not spend the 15 on wages for saviloa who is a free agent and miles better
Just remember both Forlan and Mon will be aware of what didnt go well for forlan at manure and this would help him settle into the team at VP. I think he's gained alot of good experience since he left the premiership and i can remember thinking what a natural footballer he was at Manure and he always gave 100%, plus if you ask most manure supporters what they thought of him they will tell you they liked him.
Forlan is another JPA in disguise. In latin countries, players like these are well suited-lacking in pace but good feet and good in the box, they may score some goals and are well adapted. However, the premiership is a different kettle of fish so i would forget the thought of Forlan, who to me looks like a slower version of villa legend John Fashnu!
Id love 2 see him come 2 Villa Park!!! We need goal's!
£15m is a bit too much for someone who has not proven himself in the Premiership. He's averaged a goal every 2 games in Spain but the quality of football their is not as good as it is here. I personally think we can do better.
15 million for forlan ! the thought makes me cringe !! Another massive gamble on a striker who has already shown he cant cut the cloth here ! he could be good but it is too much a risk.
Too much money has been pured down the drain on strikers over recent years and there is no way we can justify that sort of fee for someone who could not bag goals at united. I'd be much happier to see defoe or a cheaper alternative kone or anelka ???
Forlan is a good goal scorer when he is in top form...but he can be very patchy and definitely not worth anything near 15million. In response to avbrad's comment. The quality of football is better in England than in Spain? That is an absurd comment. Physically tougher yes...but better quality? Absolutly not. I wish our league had the flair the spanish league has. The spanish league is hands down the most competitive and has the best player in the world. Just look at their records in international competitons in recent years. It's not even close. I want the english league to reach that level and I think it will. But let's be realistic. If we sit on our laurels and make crazy statements like that it will never happen.