I think the only way Ward-Prowse leave Southampton is if someone like Liverpool comes in for him. Phillips I think is a real possibility, given that Leeds look likely to go down, and the rumours have been around for a while now. It might also be a good thing to a) demonstrate to the fans and players that we are showing ambition in the market and b) eventually prepare us for Rice leaving.
It would be a bit of a coup IF we signed Phillips. Depending on how big our budget is there are a few players in Lique Un we should seriously be looking at & some are midfielders.
Rice and Phillips seem to get along so could be a really good signing. It might encourage Rice but if he does leave, it's a pretty good player to fill in, as Alderz says.
It will also be quite funny after all that time when Leeds fans tried to create a rivalry between Rice and Phillips for us to end up with both.
I think there was a clause in his loan contract that they could buy him for a set amount although I think he does not become a villa player until the window opens
Yeah, I assume it's all agreed with Barca and Coutinho, but doesn't become official until 1st July. So he hasn't 'signed', but that's just a paperwork exercise.
Nothing stopping us doing the same with Areola, for example. He hinted the other day that he might be staying, and if he and PSG have agreed a permanent deal, then we can announce the deal, even it doesn't become official until July.
David Moyes reported as saying we will look to get a couple of players in during the summer. Not sure if that is him trying to manage the supporters expectations of us needing several, which we do IMHO, or if he is really being serious?
Moyes is good at this. It’s his way of saying ‘you need to be good to come here, we’re not desperate & don’t need an overhaul because we are actually quite good’.
What we need to do is replace a few squad players with better players who can challenge the first 11. Ultimately, our first 11 is decent &, excluding Antonio, Cresswell & Fabianski, are all of good ages (you could include Dawson but we also have Diop).
Baz from the BBC Gossip page - Swansea are facing competition from newly promoted Premier League sides Fulham and Bournemouth - as well as four Spanish clubs - for the signature of 32-year-old Wales midfielder Joe Allen from Stoke, where he is out of contract.
Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic revealed a couple of weeks ago that Vlasic would consider leaving West Ham on a temporary basis in order to build up his confidence and his fitness ahead of the Qatar World Cup.
“He is ready if he needs to go on loan from West Ham,” explains Dalic. “Just to play and to come to the World Cup in the right form.
“He arrived at the club that wanted him (West Ham), asked for him and paid for him. But Moyes’ style of play does not suit him.”
“He arrived at the club that wanted him (West Ham), asked for him and paid for him. But Moyes’ style of play does not suit him.”
This is why Vlasic will always be a weird signing. Moyes supposedly has the final say on transfers, but he signed Vlasic but hasn't played him much, and when he has, it's predominantly been on the wing, which isn't Vlasic's position; in fact, he's on record as saying that that's why he didn't want to stay at Everton:
“I told Silva, ‘I can play, I am one of the best midfielders here’. I really felt that I was but I wasn’t playing... If this current team had been there then, I probably would have said, ‘OK, maybe I don’t deserve to play’. But they were always putting me left or right and never in my position.”
Vlasic is a No10, but we don't really play with a 10, so I can understand Dalic's comments.
If we sign Lewis-Potter and Lingard then I think we'll let Vlasic go out on loan.
He is, but also if you’re going to have Vlasic in the squad then when he plays it should be as a 10. I think Lanzini is easily ahead of him, but when he gets minutes it should be in his position.
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It will also be quite funny after all that time when Leeds fans tried to create a rivalry between Rice and Phillips for us to end up with both.
Hold my beer.
However, I dunno about Watkins. He'd have to drastically change his attitude to fit in with Mark Noble's West Ham
Nothing stopping us doing the same with Areola, for example. He hinted the other day that he might be staying, and if he and PSG have agreed a permanent deal, then we can announce the deal, even it doesn't become official until July.
What we need to do is replace a few squad players with better players who can challenge the first 11. Ultimately, our first 11 is decent &, excluding Antonio, Cresswell & Fabianski, are all of good ages (you could include Dawson but we also have Diop).
People might remember us confirming Manu Lanzini on a permanent from Al Jazira on 22nd March 2016, or Craig Dawson on 6th April 2021.
“He is ready if he needs to go on loan from West Ham,” explains Dalic. “Just to play and to come to the World Cup in the right form.
“He arrived at the club that wanted him (West Ham), asked for him and paid for him. But Moyes’ style of play does not suit him.”
“I told Silva, ‘I can play, I am one of the best midfielders here’. I really felt that I was but I wasn’t playing... If this current team had been there then, I probably would have said, ‘OK, maybe I don’t deserve to play’. But they were always putting me left or right and never in my position.”
Vlasic is a No10, but we don't really play with a 10, so I can understand Dalic's comments.
If we sign Lewis-Potter and Lingard then I think we'll let Vlasic go out on loan.