Boubacar Kamara | Signs for Aston Villa

[CasaStreets]

Bruno Fernandes was our best signing in recent times and he was in January.

So were Vidic and Evra, and the list of successes could go on (though not much longer)... great signings can be made in January. But you are missing my point: it's exceptionally rare that a January singing makes a huge contribution in the back half of the season they are signed - particularly among non-forwards. Fernandes is the exception that pretty much proves the rule.

As a manager, you should never sign a player in January because of the impact you think they might have in the next 6 months - it's extremely unlikely that player will improve the overall quality of your team's performance until at least the next season. So when posters are saying, "the club is going to miss out on 4th spot because they aren't signing a DM in January", that's nonsense.

Right on cue, Klopp actually has a great quote on this in his statement about signing Luis Diaz: "I have always been a believer in only signing players in January if you would want to sign them in the summer, and that’s very much the case with Luis."

This is how we should be thinking: is Kamara the DM that a new manager would want to sign in the summer? Because if not, we should absolutely not sign him now.

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

So were Vidic and Evra, and the list of successes could go on (though not much longer)... great signings can be made in January. But you are missing my point: it's exceptionally rare that a January singing makes a huge contribution in the back half of the season they are signed - particularly among non-forwards. Fernandes is the exception that pretty much proves the rule.

As a manager, you should never sign a player in January because of the impact you think they might have in the next 6 months - it's extremely unlikely that player will improve the overall quality of your team's performance until at least the next season. So when posters are saying, "the club is going to miss out on 4th spot because they aren't signing a DM in January", that's nonsense.

Right on cue, Klopp actually has a great quote on this in his statement about signing Luis Diaz: "I have always been a believer in only signing players in January if you would want to sign them in the summer, and that’s very much the case with Luis."

This is how we should be thinking: is Kamara the DM that a new manager would want to sign in the summer? Because if not, we should absolutely not sign him now.

I think we should sign Kamara if it's now or in the summer, I agree that you shouldn't buy any player with the idea of just until the end of the summer, but if the transfer window is open and players are willing to go then why not sign them? There would be no cup tie problem or anything with the Champions League, which used to be an issue.

 

[Zapata]

I completely understand the thinking about holding off signings until the summer because we want to make sure they are what the permanent manager wants. But in the current situation I see it as a huge risk not bringing a DM and relying on our current midfield options that imo would risk us not getting top 4 which would be unacceptable. I hope I’m wrong and the midfield can pull through.

 

[CasaStreets]

I think we should sign Kamara if it's now or in the summer, I agree that you shouldn't buy any player with the idea of just until the end of the summer, but if the transfer window is open and players are willing to go then why not sign them? There would be no cup tie problem or anything with the Champions League, which used to be an issue.

Honestly, I haven't seen him play except youtube videos which are worthless. But at this point I think the best thing that can happen to the club is we get the top manager available on the market this summer and have the space in the squad and wage bill for that manager to build a team sheet that suits his system. Signing anyone in January, without knowing who the manager is and what their system will be, is detrimental to that.

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

Honestly, I haven't seen him play except youtube videos which are worthless. But at this point I think the best thing that can happen to the club is we get the top manager available on the market this summer and have the space in the squad and wage bill for that manager to build a team sheet that suits his system. Signing anyone in January, without knowing who the manager is and what their system will be, is detrimental to that.

I think the new manager not being in the CL would be detrimental too, and are midfield is currently substandard. Also Ralf Rangnick is signed on for 2 years as football consultant, it's not your typical interim, so anyone he wants now should be considered. Look, maybe he doesn't want Kamara and there's nothing we can do about that.

 

[Bestietom]

There is almost no position on the field (with the exception of forward) where you can reliably bring in a player halfway through a season and expect them to bed into the squad and have a meaningful positive impact by the end of the season. Even Vidic and Evra were a mixed bag at best for the back half of the '05-06 campaign when the joined in January.

Leave the midfield the way it is and we get injuries, then we lose out on any chance of top 4 place.

 

[DarkRed]

How do he compares to James Garner and Ethan Galbraith?

 

[captaincantona]

I genuinely think we need an old head here as a stop gap...not a young one.

we have Garner coming back next season and Hannibal...for two spots in that midfield 3. We need and older players to fill a gap the rest of this season and to replace Matic next season. Not more youth to block other youth being given a chance.

Gueye from PSG kind of thing.

 

[Baneofthegame]

I genuinely think we need an old head here as a stop gap...not a young one.

we have Garner coming back next season and Hannibal...for two spots in that midfield 3. We need and older players to fill a gap the rest of this season and to replace Matic next season. Not more youth to block other youth being given a chance.

Gueye from PSG kind of thing.

We need good players full stop regardless of age.

 

[AneRu]

Honestly, I haven't seen him play except youtube videos which are worthless. But at this point I think the best thing that can happen to the club is we get the top manager available on the market this summer and have the space in the squad and wage bill for that manager to build a team sheet that suits his system. Signing anyone in January, without knowing who the manager is and what their system will be, is detrimental to that.

The wage bill is unmanageable because of the previous manager's perchant for hoarding players he didn't need. By summer we will hopefully let Mata, Matic, Grant, Lingard, Jones (loan) and Henderson (loan) go, in addition to losing Cavani and Pogba on a free. That's close to a million pounds per week we'd be opening up.

This need for bedding in, whilst it's important, I think is being overemphasized in deference to the club and this hare rained decision not to strengthen. January signings have turned seasons around for many a club and we needed one to reinforce our recovery and boost our chances of a top four. People keep talking up a summer rebuild under a new manager but what chances are there that we get our number one target without CL football and how does that new manager navigate the transfer market when players can easily choose Liverpool, Chelsea and City ahead of us? Do you see Rice choosing us over Chelsea without CL football, Tchouameni over Real Madrid without CL football or even Ten Hag entertaining the thought of rebuilding a poisoned chalice without CL football?

We will be forced into making another round of expensive mistakes trying to convince players to come here for monetary reasons, again. We should have acted to give Ralf the best chance to salvage a season but the idiots in charge can't see the wood for the forest.

 

[Bestietom]

So were Vidic and Evra, and the list of successes could go on (though not much longer)... great signings can be made in January. But you are missing my point: it's exceptionally rare that a January singing makes a huge contribution in the back half of the season they are signed - particularly among non-forwards. Fernandes is the exception that pretty much proves the rule.

As a manager, you should never sign a player in January because of the impact you think they might have in the next 6 months - it's extremely unlikely that player will improve the overall quality of your team's performance until at least the next season. So when posters are saying, "the club is going to miss out on 4th spot because they aren't signing a DM in January", that's nonsense.

Right on cue, Klopp actually has a great quote on this in his statement about signing Luis Diaz: "I have always been a believer in only signing players in January if you would want to sign them in the summer, and that’s very much the case with Luis."

This is how we should be thinking: is Kamara the DM that a new manager would want to sign in the summer? Because if not, we should absolutely not sign him now.

I can never understand this myth. You bring in players on the last day of the summer transfer window and they fit in but don't in January. Crazy.

 

[Marwood]

I think people easily lose focus and don't appreciate the fact that you don't need to have eleven 'world class' players to have an effective team. If he comes in at £10m plus say £100k/wk and isn't a great success but can provide stability and fight in midfield he would be a good signing.

What we need more right now is to avoid the midfield collapse we had at Villa as we have enough goals within the side to secure 4th but we suck at basics in midfield. Fred and Scot play with heart but they lack the positioning and tactical nous to do what a younger Matic could do. The investment needed is small unless if the player is demanding outrageous wages and bonuses.

You're right you don't need XI world class players but you do need some.

Signing a player for stability is fine if he's going to be surrounded by top quality but that isn't the case for us. We don't have world class players to compliment that type.

Signing a decent but limited midfielder would just be more of the same.

It's true for all areas of the team but particularly the midfield. The next signing there has to elevate us significantly. He can't just be decent. We've already got that.

Not that I know of Kamara,never seen him play.

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

You're right you don't need XI world class players but you do need some.

Signing a player for stability is fine if he's going to be surrounded by top quality but that isn't the case for us. We don't have world class players to compliment that type.

Signing a decent but limited midfielder would just be more of the same.

It's true for all areas of the team but particularly the midfield. The next signing there has to elevate us significantly. He can't just be decent. We've already got that.

Not that I know of Kamara,never seen him play.

I agree, the next signing has to be "Fabinho/Rodri/Kimmich Level" signing in DM role, McFred are decent and average CMs, we need actual quality, not sure if Boubakar is that.

 

[CasaStreets]

I can never understand this myth. You bring in players on the last day of the summer transfer window and they fit in but don't in January. Crazy.

Calling something a 'myth' seems to be the tactic du jour of people who can't defend their opinions on here. Who suggested last second summer transfers fit in immediately? Straw man argument...

Every single summer that we've left the dealings until late, we've wasted an opportunity to get the players exposure to each other - and it's justifiably noted by everyone (ex-players, pundits, fans, you name it...). And even if you are writing that off (no idea what makes you more qualified than the broad consensus on this issue), early in the season fixture lists are less dense - new players have more trainings to bed into the team. It's bad, but it's far better than January.

Or are you saying it's just coincidence that in the past 15-20 years we've signed one non-forward in January who had a meaningful impact in the back half of that same season? Heck, add forwards into the mix. High performance and impact are incredibly rare in this situation.

 

[jesperjaap]

So were Vidic and Evra, and the list of successes could go on (though not much longer)... great signings can be made in January. But you are missing my point: it's exceptionally rare that a January singing makes a huge contribution in the back half of the season they are signed - particularly among non-forwards. Fernandes is the exception that pretty much proves the rule.

As a manager, you should never sign a player in January because of the impact you think they might have in the next 6 months - it's extremely unlikely that player will improve the overall quality of your team's performance until at least the next season. So when posters are saying, "the club is going to miss out on 4th spot because they aren't signing a DM in January", that's nonsense.

Right on cue, Klopp actually has a great quote on this in his statement about signing Luis Diaz: "I have always been a believer in only signing players in January if you would want to sign them in the summer, and that’s very much the case with Luis."

This is how we should be thinking: is Kamara the DM that a new manager would want to sign in the summer? Because if not, we should absolutely not sign him now.

Agree with your sentiment and comments, but this could/should be a crazy summer for us. New manager, quite a few players wanting possibly to leave that will be able to as there contracts are running down, ageing players, players in serious trouble with the law. We have a bloated squad but with all the possible and probable exits.....there will still need to be a fair few signings this summer I feel.

To not make a start on that this window is a mistake for me. We are woefully short in midfield quality wise, with the Greenwood case jsut after our loanings in attack we could end up short on the flanks.

I have seen Kamara play a handful of times and does he hugely improve us staright away for a top four spot. Thats a good question, but if we need 6/7 signings this summer, maybe a prudent long term one now cheaply is a good investment NOW. I think he is a very talented and intelligent player and with hsi contract situation personally its a no brainer, should have signed him cheap the summer gone

 

[croadyman]

I agree, the next signing has to be "Fabinho/Rodri/Kimmich Level" signing in DM role, McFred are decent and average CMs, we need actual quality, not sure if Boubakar is that.

Bellingham but would he move this summer, then again forget it if we miss out on the top 4

 

[reddevilz007]

Boubacar or Zakaria would have been nice, playing behind two number 8s like Bruno and Pogba.

But these kind of deals are too complicated for us to do.

 

[Bastian]

Was hoping to see this come to fruition, as it's low risk, could eventually just be a squad player here or sold on if he doesn't impress, while there's the chance he could really progress here. Looked a bit of a no-brainer.

 

[jderbyshire]

20 mins to go.

Make it happen Dickie!

 

[Bestietom]

Calling something a 'myth' seems to be the tactic du jour of people who can't defend their opinions on here. Who suggested last second summer transfers fit in immediately? Straw man argument...

Every single summer that we've left the dealings until late, we've wasted an opportunity to get the players exposure to each other - and it's justifiably noted by everyone (ex-players, pundits, fans, you name it...). And even if you are writing that off (no idea what makes you more qualified than the broad consensus on this issue), early in the season fixture lists are less dense - new players have more trainings to bed into the team. It's bad, but it's far better than January.

Or are you saying it's just coincidence that in the past 15-20 years we've signed one non-forward in January who had a meaningful impact in the back half of that same season? Heck, add forwards into the mix. High performance and impact are incredibly rare in this situation.

You can twist it whatever way you like but we are all entitled to our own opinion. I am following this club for last 62 years and I have heard different views and have seen players coming in and hitting the ground running, but have also seen players come in and taking a long time to settle, whether it be January or the Summer. I continue to see this now, and I am over 70 years old.

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

You can twist it whatever way you like but we are all entitled to our own opinion. I am following this club for last 62 years and I have heard different views and have seen players coming in and hitting the ground running, but have also seen players come in and taking a long time to settle, whether it be January or the Summer. I continue to see this now, and I am over 70 years old.

To be honest, I can't recall a January transfer since 2003 (when transfer windows were introduced) that hit the ground running except for Bruno, and maybe Saha in 2004, we signed Mata in Jan 2014, he started well but the team was terrible overall under Moyes and finished 7th. Evra & Vidic joined in Jan 2006 but as it's well known, they needed time to settle, but both were absolutely superb in the following seasons and went on to be part of one of the greatest teams in the PL era.

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

I’d still like us to sign Kamara in the summer for free, thought he was worth it now but alas. Still a good option.

 

[TheReligion]

The new Edgar Davids

 

[Adnan]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[Zapata]

If we don’t make top 4 due to our weak midfield it will be hard to convince players like kamara to join us in the summer

 

[AltiUn]

If we don’t make top 4 due to our weak midfield it will be hard to convince players like kamara to join us in the summer

Good, it's the only way our board will ever learn.

 

[Bondi77]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Stating the bleeding obvious?

 

[Hugh Jass]

If we don’t make top 4 due to our weak midfield it will be hard to convince players like kamara to join us in the summer

I think it is money that turns most footballers heads. Look at newcastle suddenly able to sign good players. It is because they are offering seriously good wages.

Maybe the best best attacking footballers want CL, but everyone has a price.

 

[Strootman's Finger]

I think it is money that turns most footballers heads. Look at newcastle suddenly able to sign good players. It is because they are offering seriously good wages.

Maybe the best best attacking footballers want CL, but everyone has a price.

What good players? Not really impressed by any of their signings, just seem like bodies for the sake of making signings.

 

[Hugh Jass]

What good players? Not really impressed by any of their signings, just seem like bodies for the sake of making signings.

They are signing players better than they would have if they were not bankrolled by oil.

In four years time they are going to be signing the best in the world.

 

[HailtotheKing]

I think it is money that turns most footballers heads. Look at newcastle suddenly able to sign good players. It is because they are offering seriously good wages.

Maybe the best best attacking footballers want CL, but everyone has a price.

Right. And that price is exactly the reason why we're in so much trouble in the first place. Handing huge contracts to players who don't deserve them, then finding it hard to motivate them and even harder to sell. We pay ridiculous wages to players even when we don't need to. It's like it's play money or something. Still can't believe Mane is on 100K a week, the same as Phil Jones. Allison is on 150K compared to DDG, 350K I believe. Even Salah is only on 200K a week. Less than Rashford, Martial, and Sancho.

We have paid stupid money and got stupid results. It needs to stop. And it won't stop if we don't get 4th.

 

[TwoSheds]

I don't see how we're going to need 6 or 7 signings in the summer personally. I think we will need a DM (already do) and most likely a striker. In terms of need - that's it. Anything else will just be done if they're deemed an upgrade and circumstances are serendipitous e.g. Mazraoui on a free if the coaches don't rate Wan Bissaka.

If either Donny does well and comes back, or Mejbri takes any chances he gets this year then I don't think we'll strengthen in CM. And we have to assume Sancho will get the chance to nail down the wing slot with the price we paid for him, plus Elanga seems determined to take his chances so far, so I think we're good on the wings. CB wouldn't hurt but they have to be better than Lindelof and Maguire, can't just be signing any old shit. My guess would be 4 signings at max tbh.

 

[Leftback99]

If we don’t make top 4 due to our weak midfield it will be hard to convince players like kamara to join us in the summer

'Players like Kamara'? I doubt he'd even be mentioned here if he wasn't going to be out of contract.

 

[croadyman]

I don't see how we're going to need 6 or 7 signings in the summer personally. I think we will need a DM (already do) and most likely a striker. In terms of need - that's it. Anything else will just be done if they're deemed an upgrade and circumstances are serendipitous e.g. Mazraoui on a free if the coaches don't rate Wan Bissaka.

If either Donny does well and comes back, or Mejbri takes any chances he gets this year then I don't think we'll strengthen in CM. And we have to assume Sancho will get the chance to nail down the wing slot with the price we paid for him, plus Elanga seems determined to take his chances so far, so I think we're good on the wings. CB wouldn't hurt but they have to be better than Lindelof and Maguire, can't just be signing any old shit. My guess would be 4 signings at max tbh.

What positions do you see us signing players apart from DM and obviously replacement for Edi of course

 

[Zapata]

'Players like Kamara'? I doubt he'd even be mentioned here if he wasn't going to be out of contract.

He should be I watch OM games regularly and kamara is a fantastic player if he ends up in the PL with another team I’m sure he will be a very important player

 

[TwoSheds]

What positions do you see us signing players apart from DM and obviously replacement for Edi of course

Well I would have thought the most likely would be RB and at a stretch CB but they would have to be the right players. If we did find ourselves a body short in CM then I'd guess we'd sign someone there instead of CB.

 

[Bestietom]

To be honest, I can't recall a January transfer since 2003 (when transfer windows were introduced) that hit the ground running except for Bruno, and maybe Saha in 2004, we signed Mata in Jan 2014, he started well but the team was terrible overall under Moyes and finished 7th. Evra & Vidic joined in Jan 2006 but as it's well known, they needed time to settle, but both were absolutely superb in the following seasons and went on to be part of one of the greatest teams in the PL era.

That's your view of January signings. What about summer signings, and then compare both. If you buy someone who has already played in Premiership you may have a better chance of them hitting the ground running, but no matter who or when you buy, it is a CHANCE you take.

 

[Bestietom]

According to Romano we turned down the chance to buy him for 10 million, when offered to us before deadline.

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

That's your view of January signings. What about summer signings, and then compare both. If you buy someone who has already played in Premiership you may have a better chance of them hitting the ground running, but no matter who or when you buy, it is a CHANCE you take.

Oh yes any signing is risk regardless.

 

[jesperjaap]

What good players? Not really impressed by any of their signings, just seem like bodies for the sake of making signings.

AGree, I know little about the Brazilian but a Burnley striker, highest ever earner being a decent mid thirties right back......hardly setting the world on fire and it doesnt prve anything about players movign for money as the person you answr suggested