Both of these guys would be very welcome as long as they want to come to Villa. I wouldn't want bentley 'settling' for villa if one of the big four don't come in for him. Hopefully we can sign them up soon to give the pesimists a chance to take a deep breath again :)

I remember sidwell scoring a cothen ive had a lot of respect for him. Havnt seen much of bentley except in an england shirt and he's looked good to me most of the time

Not bad business at all if it turns out we get them both

Hes never been in a slumber you silly fool.

If we could get Bently then i really feel that we would be heading in the right direction. This year i felt we were way too lop sided to the left which meant teams could double up on Young. They would'nt be able to do that if we had Bently on the right and throw in a good attacking RB then we really would be a force going forward. I can't see any of the top 3 going for him and could liverpool afford him if we take them to the cleaners for Barry? So that would leave only Spurs to compete with in my eyes and so it would probably come down to the wages which is where i fear MON would be too stubborn to pay what he might feel is over the odds wages. Hopefully im proven wrong but the signing of Bently would be great business in my eyes.

arsenal are allready out the race because he left them 2 go to blackburn because he fell out wid wenger and the club chelsea i doubt solari will go for him and utd they hav ronaldo on the right wing so its just liverpool we hav 2 look out for so hopefully in the move for barry we should make them lose intrest in bentley so we hav a good chance if were willin 2 spend the cash

I would welcome either of these pair or both the VP. Both are young and are a great talent. With GB looking more likely to be leaving Sidwell will fill in for Bazza great. Bentley has come out saying he wants to play in the CL and now he has said he wouldn't mind playing in the CL or Europe. I've got a feeling when Hughes left Blackburn that MON jumped in quickly to put in a offer. Remember boys and girls deals are normally done and dusted 2 days before they are official shown by the club. So I would have a feel that MON has told the guys back at VP who he wants and to get them at any cost.

But say that though if we did get the £18 or £20m for GB then we would pick two very good midfielders for the price of one.

As well as this if GB does move how would people feel if he was starting against us come the 3rd game of the season?? Would you cheer for me or boo him??

i 8 AVFC

For me Bentley is priority number one this summer so i would be delighted if he signs, im not so sure about Sidwell as i havent really seen much of him. Though i think a midfield with Bentley - NRC Sidwell - Young would be the best midfield outside the so called top 4 and im sure we'd give Liverpool and Arsenal a run for thier money!!

If barry goes, Bentley wont come. He is looking to move forward not going to a club that sells its best players..! As for Sidwell dont hold your breath on that one, he wants a £3 mill payout from Chelsea because he has'nt asked for a transfer... They will keep him in the reserves untill he asks for one.!!

2 quality additions especially bentley!! dnt think he wud go bk to arsenal, but i think he cud be swayed by a move back to london with tottenham, the mirror also reports we have made the first approach with a £15m bid!

those two would be good signings! Bentley would be class! Sidwell would be ok! Could he be a ginger maurauder to replace barry? duno!

Sidwell would be a great signing but i do not like Bentley at all. Arrogant W***** in my opinion but if he comes to us he will of course have my full support

Well you never know, MON could be making a Bentley bid to keep Barry. This would be one of the signings Barry was talking about to match his ambition..

As i said yesterday, Bentley, Barry, Coker, and Young now thats a midfield... for Villa and England.!!

I don't buy the slumbering O'Neill idea at all. A lot is going on behind the scenes and business will no doubt start in earnest once euro 08 is over and done with. What's more, Magic Mart is still waiting for Liverpool's cowboy owners to stop farting around and cough up the 18 million for Barry. I like the sound of Sidwell and Bentley in our midfield. I'd like to see Milner back too, but the reported 9 million is a bit steep. On top of those three, Boruc between the sticks, a classy attacking right-back, two or three squad players to bolster defence and midfield, and a stunning striker coup to finish off with (Henry ?) would do very nicely thank you. UEFA Cup here we come!

Bentley would be a quality signing and an exciting one. Sidwell is a good player but rather similar to Reo-Coker, I think we need a creative midfielder to replace Barry and one of Sidwell or Reo-Coker playing alongside him.

dont forget the man city factor wit bentley. hughes is there now, so that could influence. but if we were to atleast bid for him, that wud be a good start. lets mix it up. as for sidwell, not sure about him, but for squad numbers its a good thing if this is true. jus dont kno wot the hell to belive. :'(

I could only see Bentley being needed at arsenal, but they've just bought young ramsey so that might be the signal of their intent there, also can play Walcott. Hleb and rosicky can hit that position, one injured... but would he return to play under wenger?

Man utd obviously have ronaldo, chelsea have wright-phillips who they may deem a better option. I think ultimately if bentley came to us he'd be a step forward. I'm not convinced of the height of his ability, but i think his transfer would be more a statement of intent to other ambitious players we'd want to attract. It's time we made another "ashley young" type transfer and signed someone who is in demand to other teams and come out on top. Signing players is a mind game.

we should go for bently, quality player, but cant help thinking that he will go to spurs as evryone does. >:(.
i have heard though that we have made a 15mil bid for him today.

sidwell is quality against us for reading when he scored 2 he is really attackin hes nothing like reo coker hes defensive sidwells attackin hed b a good signin i dont really c bentley coming but i really want him 2

It would be nice just to get anyone in? obviously they need to have some sort of quality, i really dont get the sidwell thing, but we'll no soon enough if he signs

As for bentley lets just see i keep getting too excited about SPECULATION, ive said before i think hes overated but if he comes then he gets my support

Villa are meant to be scouting for players all year round!
They should have sum sort of ideal who they want by now, or do they people down villa leave it to late for players coming in year after year its the same thing.

HURRY UP AND SIGN SOME QUALITY AND RELEASE PICTURES OF THE NEW KIT

24th of june i think we'll see an arrival at V.P ive just got a feeling.................

Damian can we have a sweep stake to guess what date the first transfer will be? i enjoyed that last time!

Bentley is a name you want to be linked with, and want your club to be signing, I just have a niggling doubt, one that we one step up to that level, like so many times before....

...keep the faith, we will sign top class players.

I think Sidwell would be an excellent signing, he had an awesome season for Reading before moving to Chelski, they just have a habit of putting good players in the shade as they have some great players.

Both would be good, and a step in the right direction.

Jon AVFC - Ronaldo is probably the must arrogant player ive ever seen but would you say no to him comin to VP:)

I'm really looking forward to seeing Craig Gardner next season. Excellent player and deserves a chance in his favoured central midfield. Great option. Don't get me wrong, Sidwell & Bentley will be tremendous acquisitions too.

Come on Craig Gardener, loads of effort and no ability - painful to watch last season…

Boruc



?????? Lausen Davies Bouma


R.Coker



Bentley Barry Young Milner



Agbonlahor/Carew/??????



Thats a Squad

My son, is a Reading fan and he's assured me Sidwell is the dogs ... He was the main man behing Reading great 1st season in the top flight and when he left - And the only one to leave for the following season it all went to pot. Sidwell could be as good as Barry

Wow!!! I really hope Bentley comes to VP. It would be one of the biggest signings of the summer for me. Huge threats on both wings. What an impact he would make. Got really excited when i read this on the BBC website this morning

Apparently we had a 15mil bid rejected for Bentley. I think that Man City and Tottenham are our main competition in the race to sign him. Liverpool wont have the money, Chelsea will most likely look to a host of over priced out casts (Deco, Ronaldinho etc) Arsenal wont buy him back for that sort of money and Man U have a pretty decent right sided midfielder at the moment. Ive also heard from a few people that a bid for Lennon, Huddlestone and Chimbonda is being prepared for around 13-16mil for all three as well as a bid for Boruc, with possibilities of Maloney and Petrov heading north. Possibly ridiculous speculation, but isnt it all ridiculous this time of year.......

Can't see Bentley wanting to come to us at all, but we can all hope. The only thing that worries me now is if Liverpool nab him - they will almost certainly abandon their chase for Barry and leave us with someone A) the fans don't want and B) doesn't want to be here himself. Not an ideal situation at all.

I'm not even thinking about Barry ... If we get the lad Bentley great. I must say though I think it would be funny if Barry falls with egg on his face. Another point and I don't know if you can put it in a clause like loans is that he isn't allowed to play against Villa at VP for the first season. I think cominng back so soon would be very hostile for him and Liverpool - Oh well

I feel it would be great to sign these players, Bentley has a big future and if he could work with Ashley we could be a real danger going forward and if we could cover the costs with the sale of Barry I honestly wouldnt be worried sidwell is more than capable.....UTV

He was never sleeping...It's all well and good to have targets picked out, but if any of those are well-known players that the fans would like, say Bentley, you can bet there are other bids and conversations in, and then all the "well, he can go, but we need to sign someone else first," or the "I might fancy going to Man City with Hughes, but they're trying to do this Ronaldinho thing, and I might wait to see how that goes before making a decision."

So there's musical chairs, there's seeing what the market will be like, teams waiting to sell, all that. The only time it's straightforward is if you're swooping for a Young, someone off the radar at a lower league team, or relative unknowns from other countries (and you never know how they'll fit in). If you've got a big target(s), it can also depend on whether other teams have spent their big money yet. MON might want some of the Spurs "rejects," but it doesn't mean that Spurs are willing to sell just yet, or they might want a bidding war or want funds for subsequent moves of their own.

I think it would do my head in to know who you want, and have to deal with all the crap between that decision and getting a signature.

But if MON's lodged a £15m bid for Bentley, then no one can really say he's not willing to spend the money. Even if it's only speculation, it's the right sort.

One other thing...MON's "reluctance" in the market might also have everything to do with really wanting certain players and being unwilling to settle for other names he doesn't rate if they're not coming. That's why I think he was willing to stand pat in January. He didn't want to spend money on players he wasn't all that excited about. But in the meantime he seems willing to take certain low-risk gambles, like seeing how Routledge comes along, or whether Maloney can cut it in the EPL, or finding a player like Salifou that isn't on anyone's radar and might come good given the time and training.

One thing I do really like about MON is that he's willing to invest time on a player...He doesn't rush them into the side, which can backfire terribly if the player has the goods but isn't ready. Routledge, Salifou, Maloney...Really, they were bought to plug into the reserves and training so MON and Co. could have a good long look and try to develop them.

@ VillaVilla, Ben Richards

The Fans dont want him..? Hostile when he comes back..?

What a pile of crap.!! You will find most Villa fans quite mature when it comes to things like these, Just come home from school have you.??

I agree with pete2222 i think it would be nice to see more of Craig Gardner, he could be a long term replacement for Barry. He didnt look brilliant at times last season but was filling in at right back but you can tell he has great ability. MON must fancy him because other than Gabby i think he's the only one left from the youth cup winning team ie Davis/Ridgewell/Cahill/Moore etc.
Goldie7 it would be nice if we could play with 12 men i agree!

now now jaf ;D

On the Barry welcome to stay comments; yes, we are more mature than some would think. BUT, it's entirely down to GB, the comments he makes, the way he trains and plays. I think that if he stays he will be perfectly, properly professional. And, in my opinion he won't regret it when we push 'Pool into 5th place!!

would like the two of them at villa park but hope we buy outside of England for the rest of the transfers

Two great players no doubt,exactley what we need. ;D

jaf, I think you'll find if you read back through previous posts on here that Damian has made about Barry, that there are quite a high percentage of fans who would not now welcome his return after how he's acted recently.

Khoutek

Excellent post, i think youve hit the nail on the head. Mon is definately picky - and wont settle for people he does not see fitting in. Although a risky strategy - its one that im happy for him to continue with although it is frustrating.

He must get calls from agents, offering him all sorts of players, but he knows who he wants and i guess we cant do anything other than just to sit tight and see what happens.

VillaVilla, I can agree there are some Villa fans who wont forgive him for wanting to leave. I will welcome him when he comes back to Villa Park (if he leaves..). But i do think he is making a mistake going to liverpool, he really needs a new agent..!

Over 100 rumours and I'm only going to believe anything when someone signs, I'm actually past checking now as until they sign it's all made up and at least 1 or 2 rumours have to be right, papers hedging their bets.

Bentley would be a good signing for Villa and a good start to the summer transfers. It'd certainly do a lot to ease my mind that we're actually gonna sign some players instead of dropping out of the PL and signing up for a seven-a-side league. We still need so many more players, at least a GK, RB (Maybe 2), CM (if GB leaves) and a striker plus at least two or three more as cover/rotation (I know rotation might not be the best word). Would love to see us do a swap deal with Chelski - Sidwell SWP £5m for GB if only to deny Liverpool from getting him (Can't see it though). Up the Villa!!!!

Two very good signings, if it happens. Bentley in particular would be tremendous news. I'd also like to see Crouch making his way back to VP with Carew alongside. This doesn't mean Bolton - style aeriel bombardment; it could be quite cultured. Both big men have a deft touch, and Carew has a surprising turn of pace. With the crossing ability of Young and Bentley, it could turn out to be a formidable partnership.

I totally agree with Taglor on this one. The papers just make it all up and none of us should believe any of it.
I will only believe it when they are stood next to MON holding the shirt.
I know we can all speculate, but it is never ending. Just be patient. MON knows whet he is doing and we will be happy once he has done it. UTV

Bentley would only come and stay for a season or two before wanting to leave...

Don't you guyz realize that mo'n is still scouting and were at the euro's that's were, rumor has it he was pretty interested in mertersacker as a possible replacement for the great Olof. But there is still plenty of time to sign players but expect a few signings to come before the intertoto kick off and 1-2 after.

Keep the Faith, Villa 4 Life.

Abz

But in that season or two, if we broke into the top four and made real progress, it may be reason enough for him to want to stay.

If he comes and after two seasons we're still playing for 6th, then you can't blame him for then wanting to leave if a Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal came knocking.

I do find this Bentley talk amusing, You all must understand without Barry we are no better than Blackburn..! So what would be the attraction in coming here (going sideways, not forward). Can you imagine him getting on with Coker as captain..??

Petrov for Boruc sounds good to me. I wouldn't be surprised if Sidwell was a Petrov replacement and the Barry replacement will be a far more pacy creative midfielder... how rubbish are France?

We have to face it, the only way Bentley is going to come to us is if none of the top 4 want him. Liverpool are supposedly interested so if it's a choice of them and us, we simply aren't going to get him.

However, I think MON is more than capable of selling him a convincing pitch. This is the kind of signing that would help boost us towards breaking the top 4: the thought of he and Young on the wings is quite frankly ridiculously exciting, they'd probably be the best pairing in the Premiership.

Great thread and it's made me realise that our squad could look very good indeed next year if we sign the quality of player ready to take a place in our first team.
Good points from kohoutek.
We all know we need a goalie, two right backs, a centre half and a right winger at least. A real top goalscorer would be nice and Barry's replacement should really be a top notch attacking centre midfielder worth a few bob, or what is the point ?
I think the players mentioned above: Bentley, Sidwell and Boruc would be excellent signings and it looks like the chances of getting them are quite good.
Sidwell looks nailed on, i do think Bentley would come to Villa and lets just hope MON has got Strachan pissed over the last week or so and talked him into the Petrov / Boruc swap ! (where did you hear that Peter2222 ? love to know if theres anything in it)
I don't fancy Milner, Huddlestone or Chimbonda personally so I hope we don't go down that route.
Somebody on here has been banging on about Arshavin for ages...saw him earlier for the first time and he looks ace. Is it a toss between him and Diego for our star buy replacement for shellsuit boy? (he'll be nickin stereos within six months by the way...soz scousers, couldn't resist !)
Villan 4 life mentioned Mertesacker...i'll go with that as a replacement for Olly if we could get him but we deffo need another CB in my opinion.
Add two right backs, a shit hot experienced one with a bit of pace (is Maggio no more?) and maybe Stearman from Leicester as back up and the squad for next year starts to look a bit interesting.
A 20 goal a season striker would top it all but we do have a lot of fire power already if they get the service and the only way to do this in my opinion is to get someone who can cross from the right hand side and someone who can thread the killer ball and do the unexpected. Diego and Bentley top the bill for me unless we can get Arshavin to play on the right !
Happy days anyway and i hope we get some transfer action very shortly.

COMETH THE HOUR...COMETH THE MON !
UP THE VILLA ;) ;)

Only the negative drudge played by blackburn made Bentley stand out in the crowd. I think if went to a 'bigger' club he would look ordinary.

Sidwells a top buy and should fit into GB Shoes. Sidwells not as good passer but will socres goals frm midfield and has more pace. Definetley a good replacement for barry and i feel will imprve the squad. Bentley can see what MON does for young english talent and im sure that will attrat him to VP.

Not a chance Bentley will sign for us, Tottenham are sniffing around...the lure of going back to London will swing it.

I agree that we were very ineffective down the right last season. But the main reason for this is that we had a centre back playing at right back. I think it is really straightforward. We sign two quality players for down the right and we then have a great threat down both flanks. David Bentley would fit the bill perfectly . John Carew would be in dream land with Ashley Young and Bentley swinging balls in from all angles. I'd even fancy Marlon's chancs of getting on the end of something.

I heard we were going after Darren Bent and for me it would be a great signing everyone knows when he plays enough he scores enough.

Bentley looked ORDINARY to me in his England appearances - not too bright and possibly with a bigger-than-the-club attitude.

I wouldn't pay £5M,never mind £15M ...

A few of you have said that we need a goalkeeper and one midfielder to have a 'decent' squad. Its no true. It has been pointed out that our current team is down to the bare bones and we have no depth in players to challenge for starting places. Ok we did well to finish where we did with this group of players but improvment is the word we need to focus on.

Also...
Craig Gardener is NOT good enough for what we want to achieve. Squad player ok, he will do, but i do not t hink we should be seeing more of him next season. We need quality. To push forward we cant take steps backwards, sounds obvious but its true isnt it.

Have patience though, signings will come.
Soon.

Adam Hackett
Devon Villain