Belhanda rumours spark Benteke fears

Back on the 4th of June, this column was sceptical of reports linking Villa to Younès Belhanda.

Our wariness of the story seemed to be born out by subsequent apparent denials of Villa's interest in the press. However, the initial story linking us with the player came from the Montpellier club, so couldn't be dismissed out of hand.

It now seems that the story won't go away and with Belhanda's people making it known that the 23 year old Moroccan international would favour a move to England, Villa look to be in the frame.

Paying out the £13 million required to capture the playmaker would seem to fly in the face of recent transfer policy, although that policy could change if a significant amount of transfer money flowed in rather than out. The only player likely to attract that sort of money currently is one Christian Benteke.

It is known that Villa were keen to offer the Belgian forward better terms after his outstanding debut season but no firm known news of a new contract agreement has been been forthcoming.

Should Villa decide to cash in early on the striker, they are unlikely to wish for the news to get out until season ticket sales have been maximised, so it may be a few weeks yet before the situation becomes clear to supporters.

Ireland to potter off to Stoke? Who needs Barry?

One of the more daft of the latest batch of rumours is that two former Villa players who abandoned the club and regular first team action to cash in at Manchester City may be returning.

Yes, stories abound that either James Milner or Gareth Barry could be set for cut price returns to Villa Park.

While we at villamad.co.uk would welcome a bit of much needed experience to the rebuilt squad, it seems impossible to us that either player would return, given Lambert's youthful vigor preferences, Randy's vice-like grip on the wage structure and  the
bitterness from some elements of our support regarding the pair's departures.

Barry's exit in particular was rather fraught from the fans' perspective as it played out over well over a full season and led to a few incidents where he was actually booed whilst still wearing a Villa shirt.

With Milner keen on more first team starts to secure his place in the World Cup squad (if we actually qualify) a loan deal wouldn't be out of the question, but Lambert's signing of Bacuna makes it unlikely that that loan deal will be with us.

Meanwhile, our chances of offloading Stephen Ireland to Mark Hughes and Stoke City may well be hampered by the player's wage demands. The word from the Potteries is that Mark Hughes is being asked to follow the Lambert template and bring in younger players on lower wages, so it remains to be seen whether this makes his bid for Ireland a non-starter or not.

Villa may have to waive any potential fee (as they have done with Holman) and pay a chunk of Ireland's remaining contracted year to make the deal work for Stoke.

Time to say Dubai-Bye to Brett Holman?

Dubai soccer team Al-Nasr are tweeting that they are on the brink of signing Villa Socceroo Brett Holman.

Holman has indicated that he wants to be assured of first team football and his future chances at Villa look limited in the light of the recent spate of signings, with both Tonev and Bacuna likely to be standing in his way.

Al-Nasr report that Holman is to head to Dubai for a medical, so it looks as though we may have seen the last of player who was signed by Alex McLeish but didn't arrive until the dour Scot had left Villa Park.

هذا و سيصل اللاعب الاسترالي بريت هولمان الى الدولة خلال الساعات القادمة لإجراء الفحص الطبي

— AL Nasr Club (@ALNasrSC) June 20, 2013

Are we signing a complete Praet?

Is the Lambert policy of only signing players that are likely to get ID'd in pubs continuing?

The latest baby-faced assassin to be linked with Aston Villa - albeit in unsubstantiated tweets and Facebook postings - is Belgian wunderkid Dennis Praet.

Young Dennis, who only turned 19 years of age last week, is another attacking midfielder, who despite his youth has started to make an impact in the Juliper Pro League and even clocked up a few appearances in the Champions League.

Even though these are very early days for the young starlet, it is thought that he could already command a £4 million transfer fee and rumours are that he has already rebuffed offers from other Premier League clubs, preferring to challenge for a first team place at Anderlecht than play in the Barclays Premier Under 21 League.

However, Lambert's reputation for giving youth a chance and his mission to cream off the best of Europe's emerging talent while other coaches are still slapping on the sun-cream and eating Mr Whippy's with a flake in may attract the highly rated teenager.

Meanwhile Danish media are reporting that the Helenius deal is all but done with the player's medical due to take place today.

Read more about Praet here:

http://outsideoftheboot.com/2013/05/12/dennis-praet-scout-report/

New Moon on Monday?

The significant portion of the Aston Villa faithful who don't think Joe Bennett is the best thing since sliced bread might be interested to know that a new left back could be in Paul Lambert's sights... and it's not the long rumoured Aaron Cresswell from Ipswich Town.

No, according to Spanish media outlets, the latest upgrade to Lambert's back line will be one Antonio Manuel Luna Rodríguez, better known as Antonio Luna, or as we at villamad.co.uk intend to call him, Tony Moon.

The player is thought to be surplus to requirements at Sevilla and has had loan spells at Almería and Real Mallorca. Sevilla are thought to be looking at a fee of around £1.7million for the 22 year old who doubles as a left sided midfielder.

Whether a player who struggled to establish himself in La Liga is the answer to our defensive prayers is a big question, but yet another overseas acquisition would be further evidence that young British players are being priced out of the market by greedy lower league chairmen.

Links to Spanish stories here:

http://www.eldesmarque.com/sevilla/53829-luna-se-marcha-al-aston-villa-por-dos-millones-de-euros

http://www.vavel.com/es/futbol/sevillafc/243998-antonio-luna-nuevo-jugador-del-aston-villa.html

http://www.muchodeporte.com/?secc=3&id=16244

http://elcorreoweb.es/2013/06/16/antonio-luna-pone-rumbo-al-aston-villa/

Bacuna - "Another James Milner"?

All action utility man Leandro Bacuna became the subject of frenzied social media speculation last night and there appears to be some credence to the rumours.

While Villa like to keep transfer dealings on the hush-hush until they are completed, the European teams they are seeking to do business with leak information like sieves hence the rash of seemingly credible rumours.

Bacuna, a 21 year old crowd pleaser with well over a 100 senior appearances for FC Groningen to his credit, is an Under 21 international who is yet to make his mark for the senior national team.

His energy and willingness to track back and put a foot in may well prove as attractive to Lambert as his pace and skill going forward as he attempts to build a team that can defend as well as attack.

"Could be another James Milner" is a phrase we've heard used in connection with the player, so no doubt we'll make a profit on any deal when we flog him on to Man City.

Meanwhile deals for Jores Okore and Danish beanpole Nicklaus Helenius are looking more and more like they will come to fruition.

The other big whisper - that Newcastle could solve their Wonga/Papiss Cisse conflict by swapping him for Darren Bent - is thought to be a non-starter. Several clubs are tracking the Bent situation with Villa likely to compromise on his fee to get him off the wage bill.

Okore v Chelsea from Morten Kaltoft on Vimeo.

Villa in for Great Dane?

Danish media reports suggest that Villa are in negotiations for Danish striker Nicklas Helenius.

The 21 year old currently plays for Danish Superliga club Aalborg BK. He made his debut on 16 May 2010 against HB Køge.

Following the 2012-13 season, he was selected as player of the season in the Danish Superliga on the UEFA website.

The story broke here: http://www.tvsyd.dk/artikel/202794:AaB-forhandler-med-Aston-Villa-om-Helenius-salg  and is carried on Aalborg's official site here: http://fodbold.aabsport.dk/nyheder/2013/06/aab-i-forhandlinger-med-aston-villa.aspx

Murphy hoax sets the rumour mill running...

Villa fans on Twitter got into a lather on Monday lunchtime when an opportunist hoax made it seem as though Crewe were about to announce the sale of Luke Murphy to the Midlands club.

Emerging from Crewe's revered youth set up, Murphy quickly established himself as a first team regular and has a wealth of experience at lower league level. Were Lambert to believe the player has enough about him to make the leap from League One football to the Premier League, he would seem to be a credible target and Crewe are resigned to losing the player, who has already had a taste of silverware leading his team to victory in the Johnstones Paint Trophy.

A tweet from Crewe Alexandra's official Twitter feed started the speculation:

Transfer news coming soon on crewealex.net. #crewealex
— Official Crewe Alex (@crewealexfc) June 10, 2013

Soon, the social media site was awash with mischievous and speculative tweets concerning the 23 year old midfielder:

Welcome Luke Murphy #itk #avfc
— murph_avfc (@murph_avfc) June 10, 2013

The speculation and mickey-taking was swiftly trampled on by Crewe's actual transfer news, the signing of Vadaine Oliver from Lincoln City

crewealex.net/news/article/a… Crewe Alexandra are delighted to confirm Vadaine Oliver has joined the club on a two year deal. #crewealex
— Official Crewe Alex (@crewealexfc) June 10, 2013

However, Murphy remains on The Gossip Column's radar.

Is this a Dagger I see before me?

With Paul Lambert likely to seek fresh blood to shore up his leaky defence, could Dagenham & Redbridge player of the season Luke Wilkinson be on his radar?

A Somerset lad who suffered an early rejection at Bristol City, he was picked up by Portsmouth, before financial woes at the club led to him moving to The Daggers. After a couple of seasons honing his skills on loan in the Conference South, the 21 year old  became a regular starter in the League Two club's back line, winning plaudits despite the outfit struggling in the wrong half of the table

The defender made 46 appearances in all competitions last term, netting six times and was named the club's player of the season after establishing himself in the first team.

Norwich City are also said to be keeping tabs.

The Price is Not Right for Jores Okore

Jores Okore's dreams of Premier League football may have turned to nightmares as F.C. Nordsjælland slapped a £5million price tag on his head.

Paul Lambert's Villa had been reported to have made a £ 3million bid for the rookie centre half who has earned a handful of caps for Denmark.

However the Premier League would be a big step up for the 20 year old who would have to show better form than older players who have Premier League experience to force his way into the starting eleven, although he does have Champions League starts under his belt.

It remains to be seen whether Villa will come back with a counter offer,  but Nordsjælland's valuation seems way too high based on what we currently know of the player.

Meanwhile, while this website never claims to be "ITK", we are hearing credible murmurs that the club are working towards having at least one, if not two signings done and dusted in time for the kit launch event.

Tonev with Petrov #avfc #utv pic.twitter.com/M2GVMAJZ7w

— Maca (@macagalvin) June 7, 2013

Defoe? Oh No!

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

Jermain Defoe (actual size)

The latest bunch of media reports are suggesting some kind of player plus cash deal involving Christian Benteke shuffling off to Spurs while pint sized bench-warming has-been Jermain Defoe heads the other way up the M1 (or the M40 if he fancies a pint in Wetherspoons on route).

Rapidly approaching the age of 31 and looking a bit injury prone of late, it's looking like the England international's best years are behind him and given that any move now is likely to be his last big pay day, it's hard to see how his arrival would suit either Lambert's youth emphasis or Randy's wage structure, given the salary and length of contract he's likely to demand.

Quite why the Beast of B6 would think it was a great idea to go off to Spurs - who cannot offer Champions League football - is a bit of a puzzler. If Arsenal really were his childhood favoutites then a move to their deadliest rivals would also seem less attractive.

Belhanda link perplexing

As Paul Lambert scours Britain and Europe looking for bargain bin talent, it was a major surprise to see a seemingly credible story linking Aston Villa with Montpelier ace Younès Belhanda.

According to quotes attributed to Montpelier president Louis Nicollin, five clubs have made offers for the talented midfield star, with AC Milan, Inter Milan, Galatasary and Athletico Madrid all in the running.

As exciting as the prospect sounds, the £13 million price tag and no doubt the accompanying high salary demands make any move to the Villa seem unlikely.

Both Spurs and Arsenal have been linked to the 23 year old Moroccan international in recent months.

If Villa have made such a move, it may indicate that Randy is prepared to loosen the purse strings with the new TV money on the horizon.

We'll believe it when we see it.

Is Popov top of Lambert's shopping list?

Rumours abound in the Russian media that Aston Villa are interested in snapping up another Bulgarian international.

Miss Popov out of Rentaghost

Paul Lambert’s side may sign Kuban Krasnodar striker Ivelin Popov, if the stories are true.

If the name Popov sounds familiar, it may be because he scored against us playing for Litex Lovech a few years back.

Now plying his trade in the Russian Premier League, the 25 year old is one year into a three year deal and may cost as much as £ 3.5m if we were to swoop.

The player may be keen on a move to England, a proposed move to Blackburn Rovers in 2010 only fell through due to work permit issues. With 40 international caps to his credit, a permit shouldn't be an issue this time around.

Finalising any move may be dependent on offloading big earners such as Bent and Ireland from the squad.