We're after Habibwho?

So another Salifou ?.

Nathan D already has squad no. so won't be surprised to see him get a run out this season.

why couldnt we just get defoe now we gotta get sum gezza know-1 knows

too young, need some experience

If he was any good why did PSG leave him go and why could he not get into the FC Charleroi team. 21 is not that young when it comes to footballers and it would just sum us up to be linked to a player who can't make the first 11 for FC Charleroi whatever division they are in.

if this is true i dont know whats wrong with mon, im just getting really tired with all this, its just going to be the same old disappointing summer.......

Moan moan moan moan moan !!
Most of the signings Arsen Wenger has made in last 10 years have been complete unknowns or rejects from other clubs .
If we sign this kid and he turns out to be be the next Henry you wont all be moaning then !
Sometimes you have to take a gamble on promising young players .

Its the Jupiler league , named after beer made in liege , not jupiter ;-) worst beer in belgium!

Wenger got his players in at the age of 17/18 or younger.

You make a good point Altz.

Nothing wrong with up and coming players, but i think most fans want quality and experience for us to push on, rather than kids who might come good. Isn't that what the academy is for?

Personally, I'd say 99% of these links are rubbish myself. MON always plays his cards very close to his chest and the press rarely know what he's up to, so they make it up.
I suppose they're good for discussion though.

Seems like we were here before this time last year, I reckon MON is gonna try and go next season with outfield players taking it in turns to be in goal. Doesn't seem to be any urgency.

Older players do turn up just not often. Toure 21 when Arsene found him, Ian Wright 21 when Palace found him, Paul McGrath 22 when Man U found him, Ian Taylor was about 23 when Port Vale found him......

Badger - you along with numerous other people on other posts keep saying MON plays his cards close to his chest. please explain this as to me its a complete Myth.
Last summer The reo coker deal dragged out for 3 months, young we knew about 3/4 weeks before it happened, harewood was first rumoured over a month before, davies like wise, even knight was rumoured 2 weeks before and petrov about 3 weeks before. The sidwell rumour has been going on a month and no doubt in 2 months we will sign him!! of the bigger signings only Carew wasnt known about before and that was because Oneil was only offered him last minute as part of the Baros deal and originally had not considered signing him!! I really dont undertsand where you get this idea that MON plays his cards close to his chest. To me its complete BS!!!!

The haribo man, does he come with jelly babies and jelly bears also???

It seems several teams are interested, so he must have some upside.

All youth is not the same. And likewise, all "cast-offs" are not the same. Sometimes it's the coach, the setup, financial problems, you never know. You have to trust MON's experience in the game. As others have noted, lots of big players are snapped up when unknown and given a chance.

But it seems clear that MON is big on youth, and I think he's right. While I would like a couple of seasoned additions, particularly a Diego because we need that sort of quality, building primarily with youth is the right long-term answer.

Depends on his price any youngster who seems to have a bright future should be snapped up as long as the price isnt ridiculous. I'm fed up with speculation.
Mon can we have some proven quality please

love the name Mouhamadou Habib Habibou.

First of all... MON GOT US TO FINISH 6TH PLACE THIS YEAR. EVERYONE OF US WOULD HAVE BEEN THRILLED WITH 6TH SPOT AT THE BEGINING OF THE YEAR. so.. MON must be doing something right. especially with the squad he has now.

I have no doubt that MON has terrific judgement in the players that he brings in. Sure, Petrov has been inconsistant and Reo-coker didn't score a goal this season, but look who he has brought in.
Ashley Young was a steal! (If we were stupid enough) Today, we could sell him for twice as much as we bought him for.
John Carew is one of the most difficult players in the Prem for any defender to man mark. He's much more than a goal scorer as well.
Curtis Davies. Brilliant talent. He'll become one of the best center backs in England in the next few years. Future starting England center back.
Marlon Harewood! enough said.
NRC will have a much better year next year. However, much of his efforts go unnoticed. He is brilliant at breaking up the play of the opposition. He works tirelessly in the midfield and wins more balls than any other player on the field.

Overall, I have no doubt that MON will bring in great players. And at the end of the day, if they aren't the greatest of players, MON will make them into solid hard-working players. He not only picks proper athletes, but he picks players with the hunger and the drive to work harder. This is why it is so difficult for him to bring in just anyone. He brings in special players with great work ethics.

I think that's why players like Luke Moore and Steven Davis have been sent out. They dont have the right attitude for a MON team.

so spurs get dos santos and modric and we are getting players from some belgian league? ive got alot of faith in MON but come on!

im all for buying unknowns but for gods sake lets get a shit hot first team in place first! yes nobody moaned when wenger brought in his youngsters, but thats probably because they won the league when both toure and fabregas came in

i can see delfouneso being the most exciting player in pre-season (not saying he'll be the only inclusion to the squad, i just cant wait to see him step up)

Guys

I just can't understand the negativity. This is just a newspaper rumour - we haven't actually signed the guy yet because of this rumour, we get in there and bag MO'N for signing no-names? Just doesn't make sense to me. We have already been linked to 70 players this transfer window and we clearly aren't going to sign them all. How about we treat this as it most likely is, a meaningless newpaper rumour.

UTV!

I'm sure i've heard that name before and after reading the above posts, i think i've got it but please correct me if i'm wrong.
Three of you mentioned Wenger's name without a hint of a link to the player in question.
That is when it clicked...i'm sure i have read in the last few weeks that Wenger was interested in him for £2m if i remember rightly and it would have most probably come from the News of the World Sports pages.
Can anyone confirm this or have i dreamt it all up?!!

UP THE VILLA ;) ;)

The main point is that while we are being 'Linked' to average players the team who in my ophion will be our nearest rivals for 5th next season are actually signing qality players. Modic already in the bag and look to have Dos Santos and a Bolivan striker who has scored alot of goals in the Copa Liberdoras signed as well. Why are we not competeting with Spurs for these players? They already have signed Hutton and Woodgate last Dec, players which wuld have walked into our first 11. Now it looks like Govou will join Pompy while MON twiddles his thumbs and waits until only the offcasts are left to buy. By the way we are now over a year into our search for a RB ad still nobody is he wiser who it will be. After saying all that i will be delighted if we get Dunne. He would make a huge difference at the back for us.

man spurs signed dos santos? now that is dissapointin. for me, im jus pleased to see any activity.

we have to remeber that it is the 5 year plan that villa are working to AK28. this season i think alot of people will be disapointed as again we will get 1 good player and 4-5 squad players or young talent.
for us to compete with the likes of spurs we need to get a good run in europe and sement 6th or better. we cant offer the wages that some other clubs can either.

i am as worried as everyone that we will be left behind but the last 2 seasons have shown that we are moving in the right direction. but lets wait and see we may be suprised when someone like Bentley signs but dont expect too much

Luke, re-read your articles, don't just spellcheck. I won't point them all out because I'm not a dick but the Belgians play in the Jupiler league, named after the beer Jupiler. Not Jupiter. And it's Steaua Bucharest.And it's Michael Lahm. And it's "we're" not "were".

Fine, I'm a dick, whatever

Arrlui...your comment got me again that i had to comment. You're a good un you are, are you Taglor's son??
"Fine, I'm a dick, whatever"...quality, love it!

By the way, if you read my reply to your last post on the Pennant thread, are we still on for that £600 ?

UP THE VILLA ;)

MON WILL MAKE THIS A CLUB TO BE RECKONED WITH. TIME AND MORE TIME