Can Thomas Ince be prised from his daddy's apron strings?

The only reason there hasn't been intense and fevered transfer speculation surrounding Tom Ince is that he turned down flat the chance to play in the Premier League with Cardiff City only last month.

Malky Mackay thought he'd got his man. A fee - believed to be in the region of £8 million - had been agreed with Blackpool and Ince's agent had agreed personal terms. However, young Tom had just become a new dad and seemingly didn't want to lose the security that came with working for and living in close proximity to his father, self-styled Guv'nor Paul.

Surprisingly, even this didn't stop other interested parties - most notably Tottenham and Newcastle - from keeping close tabs on the situation.

Now, Villa and Everton are strongly rumoured to have entered the fray, although it would be a shift in Villa transfer policy to pay the sort of money Cardiff City were prepared to pay for a player with no Premier League experience, although at 21 years old, he fits the "young and hungry" requirement.

Paul Ince has made it clear of late that he feels he is a bit short when it comes to the size of his squad, a situation exacerbated when QPR pounced for Matt Phillips.

We understand that the Tangerines wouldn't be averse to letting the player go though and that using Barry Bannan as a makeweight could make a deal palatable to both sides. Little Barry has had a successful spell on loan for the seaside club.

The other rumour doing the rounds concerns gargantuan Porto defender Abdoulaye Ba.  The lad impressed for Senegal at the 2012 London Olympics but has had difficulty making a definitive first team breakthrough for the Portugese outfit, going off on loan and picking up red cards along the way. However the raw talent is definitely there and with Lambo forced to change central defence partnerships almost as often as he changes his socks, extra cover would not be amiss.

Cresswell Schmesswell... Bannan off to Blackpool or the Bhoys?

Rumours surrounding Villa's diminutive and seemingly unwanted midfield maestro Barry Bannan continue to circulate.

Paul Ince has made no secret of the fact that he thinks he's short up at Blackpool, where little Barry is no stranger, but any deal involving the Tangerines - current temporary home of fellow bomb squadee Nathan Delfouneso - is likely to be a loan only deal.

However, amongst the multiple rumours that Celtic might be in for our Barry, some are coming from credible sources. Talk of permanent deal with a fee of £ 1.5 million is in the air, but more likely would be another loan deal, especially as the Bhoys' Champions League future is hanging by a thread.

We also understand that the club is working hard to find opportunities for both Alan Hutton and Shay Given before the week is out, while Enda Stevens has been shipped out to Notts County on an emergency 28 day loan.

As for anyone coming in, we understand that Paul Lambert has one player in his cross-hairs but will remain tight-lipped as to that player's identity and position until and unless a deal is done. What we can glean from the meagre crumbs of info we are getting is that he is quite happy with the size of his squad following the summer additions and any new signing will be to add quality and "something different" to the squad, rather than making up the numbers.

The name of Aaron Cresswell has been widely circulated in the latest batch of rumours, but unless a shock exit for Joe Bennett is on the cards, this seems unlikely. More intriguing is the link with carrot-topped midfielder James McCarthy with Wigan likely to offload the promising 22-year old before the window shuts. The spoke in the wheels for this one would by Dave Whelan's asking price. Did you know Dave broke his leg in the FA Cup Final?

The truth is that The Two Pauls are playing their cards close to their chests and we probably won't know who our mystery target is until he's smuggled into Bodymoor Heath under a blanket.

Viktor? I don't believe it!

Paul Lambert certainly didn't rule out further signings at his pre-season press conference and he has demonstrated that he's quite partial to talented young Danish men, so could the Viktor Fischer rumour carry some actual substance?

The talented 19 year old broke into the Ajax first team last season and was used primarily as an out and out left winger. The breakthrough quickly saw him promoted to the Danish national team where he has made a handful of appearances.

The rumour starts to look shaky when you appreciate that Ajax wisely signed Viktor up to a new four year deal earlier this year, and this, coupled with the fact that first team opportunities look better for him in the Eredivisie than they do in the Premier League, would make a deal seem far less likely.

However, Nicklas Helenius sparked a whodunnit recently when deleting a tweet that hinted at another Villa Danish capture, so who knows?

Plenty of other rumours have been circulating but our latest intelligence says that a deal for Wissam Ben Yedder is out of the question as he only put pen to paper on a new Toulouse deal last week, while a Villa move for Fischer's Ajax team mate Toby Alderweireld is thought to be unlikely.

Who needs Barry when you've got Barry Ban...hang on...

talkSPORT are reporting that Aston Villa has turned down the chance to take Gareth Barry on loan.

The left sided glory hunter eventually jumped ship to join moneybags Manchester City in 2009 after spending his last year at Villa under a cloud after trying to force a move to fading giants Liverpool.

He bagged a Premier League winners medal in 2012.

However Man City's new boss wants to put his own stamp on the squad and ageing players like Barry are thought to be surplus to requirements and available for loan deals, with high salaries making permanent moves difficult to broker.

talkSPORT claims that sources close to the Manchester club have revealed that Villa have been sounded out about taking Barry back on a loan deal.

Unsurprisingly, Villa were said to be not interested in the deal, busy trying to offload their own has-beens as a crop of new young signings are bedded in at Villa Park.

talkSPORT's article

Helenius vanishing tweet sparks transfer guessing game...

Aston Villa new boy Nicklas Helenius sparked a transfer guessing game on Monday morning after posting and subsequently swiftly deleting a tantalising tweet.

The tweet in itself in innocuous enough, but the wink at the end is enough to spark Villa's army of tweeting detectives into action and the tweet's deletion certainly raises a few eyebrows.

So has the big Dane just invited a mate over to Brum to sample the delights of the Indoor Market or is Paul Lambert about to add to Villa's Danish contingent?

Tweet you suspicions hashtag #HeleniusMysteryFriend

Hoping it's Rolf Toft...no idea if he's any good just like the name... #HeleniusMysteryFriend
— villamad.co.uk (@villamadtweets) August 12, 2013

@villamadtweets Frederik Sørensen Danish Centre Half!
— Adrian Wain (@andylochead9) August 12, 2013

@villamadtweets carlsberg
— Lee (@Avfc75) August 12, 2013

I've got a crazy idea guys: Helenius has friends who /aren't/ footballers! #heleniusmysteryfriend #AVFC
— MattVillan (@dvtavfc) August 12, 2013

The Boudebouz Buzz

French media are reporting Villa's interest in Algerian wideman  Ryad Boudebouz.

Sochaux winger Ryad Boudebouz has made it plain that he would be open to the possibility of a move to the Premier League, with Villa amongst a gaggle of clubs tracking the talented star.

Reports in France had claimed that Southampton's Mauricio Pochettino is keen on securing the 23-year old's signature while the young international was linked with a switch to Liverpool last summer and Villa are known to have had the player watched

The player has under a year left on his current deal, so any move for him now wouldn't break the bank, though Sochaux are thought to want £5million, while his salary demands would not be beyond Villa's financial reach

Boudebouz has made no secret of the fact that he fancies trying his luck in a tougher league: "My dream has always been to play in England or Spain.

"It is everyone's dream to be linked with good teams in big leagues in Europe.

"If the President rings me up to tell me there is an offer for me I would be very happy."

A beached whale

Sceptics may wonder why Lambert would be after another wide man, given that he rarely likes to play with out and out width and has already purchased players capable of getting wide in his earlier summer dealings.

Any move is also likely to be dependant on being able to offload the unwanted players cluttering up the exit lounge at Bodymoor Heath, and they are proving harder to shift than a beached whale.

It's a Knockaert?

Now we all know that Paul Lambert likes a bargain and is prepared to gamble on unproven youth rather than expensive experience.

So is he really going to spunk away £10million of Randy's dough on Hiroshi Kiyotake when a far cheaper alternative is just up the road at Leicester City?


The word on the grapevine is that 21 year old French pretender Anthony Knockaert was none too happy about being left out of the Foxes starting line-up as the Football League got under way and that Nigel Pearson's latest system won't necessarily suit his game. That being the case, could he be tempted to chance his arm at a Premier League club a few miles down the road?

While we understand the current internet rumours (that we've probably just added to) linking the player with Villa are wide of the mark, our Leicestershire mole's response was "many a true word spoken in jest". He's a cryptic bugger.

Barry Bannan

Though Leicester tended to use the player as an out and out winger last season, he certainly has the attributes to be an effective player in the hole and is expected to improve on last season's impressive showing, which was somewhat blighted when his last gasp penalty was saved in the play-offs and Watford scored a shock winner twenty seconds later. What shouldn't be overlooked is that the miss aside, Knockaert was quality in that game.

While the Foxes would be keen to hold on the player, a wedge of cash and a couple of members of the bomb squad (Barry Bannan springs to mind) might sweeten any potential deal.

If we were to capture the Frenchman, he'd follow in the fine tradition of Didier Six and David Ginola.

Holding Out for a Hiro?

As fevered speculation surrounding Hiroshi Kiyotake continues, Paul Lambert confirmed at last night's forum that Villa had made an enquiry for the player, but had made no actual bid.

The Kiyotake tale has been kept alive over several weeks due to a spectacular Twitter spat, with one side swallowing off-the-record briefings that Villa's interest in the player had ended and others scouring the internet for titbits of info that would indicate that the deal wasn't dead.

However, even those vehemently stating that the deal wasn't happening started to backtrack on Sunday when three tweets from JSoccer Magazine had the ITKs scrabbling for their phones and the media pack piling onto another easy space filler.

Kiyotake update coming now, straight from the horse's mouth - I have spoken to Kiyo's agent company, very open with info.
— JSoccer Magazine (@JSoccerMagazine) August 4, 2013

#Kiyotake cont. ... #FCN would like him to stay but seem to accpet he may leave so want at least £8.5 mill. Kiyo has been in talks.
— JSoccer Magazine (@JSoccerMagazine) August 4, 2013

Now MY thoughhts.. if Kiyo has got the idea that AVFC want him, and seems interested, better to let him go now, for decent transfer fee
— JSoccer Magazine (@JSoccerMagazine) August 4, 2013

Interesting piece regarding this over on AVillafan

Plenty of background on Kiyotake in Julie Bayley's article

Meanwhile there was disappointment on the pitch for Kiyotake as FC Nürnberg crashed out of the DFB-Pokal on penalties, despite Hiro managing to net his.

Word is that no deal is likely unless Paul Faulkner can manage to offload those players deemed by Paul Lambert to be surplus to requirements and this is proving to be problematic with potential deals for Shay Given, Barry Bannan and Alan Hutton all falling through in recent days.

The Bent deal is the biggest mystery, with the player himself telling supporters some weeks ago that he thought he was off to Newcastle, but Villa seemingly poo-pooing Joe Kinnear's statement that talks were ongoing.

The frustration concerning the bomb squad seems to be that it's virtually impossible to move players on when they are sitting on overly generous Villa contracts and it may will be that the club will have to accept pushing them out on loan and continuing to finance huge chunks of their obese cat salaries.