Dave Woodhall casts an eye over Villa’s January deals.
The January transfer window used to be a bit of an anti-climax as far as Villa were concerned. Whoever was covering us on Sky knew they were in for a day of hanging round Bodymoor trying to keep out of the rain but at least knowing they’d be knocking off early. There were the occasional times when we went trawling the league like the yellow sticker shelf at Asda for what we hoped would be a bargain but almost always ended up in the bin. I don’t have to name names; you’ve all got your own favourites.
Then we had a few quid to spend and transfer windows tended to have two parts. We’d make a couple of early signings in a Villa Mean Business type of way, settle down for a few weeks of speculation and end up frustrated as the lights went off at Bodymoor and we were still a player short. And then there was January 2025, when we finally made Our Man at Bodymoor do some work.
It wasn’t all one-way; in fact we got rid of more than arrived, although most were youngsters being loaned out. Of these the most significant was Louie Barry, who’s got between now and the end of the season to show he’s worth keeping, or increasing his sale value. Also out on loan is Emiliano Buendia, who was just coming into form when he was injured at the start of last season and who deserves some luck with Leverkusen.
The most surprising move, particularly for the fee involved, was Jaden Philogene’s move to Ipswich. Somehow a dozen nondescript appearances plus three more in Europe had caused his value to rise so much that it was worth moving him on. Jaden had rarely shown any of his previous form but we’ll always have Bayern.
Also going was Diego Carlos, who’d cost the best part of £30 million in summer 2022, only to be injured in his second game. He came back and played a big part in last season’s adventures but was only ever going to be fourth-choice and £8.5 million, while a big loss, gave us more PSR room to play with.
And then there was Jhon Duran. When he arrived he looked a bit of a gamble and there was a time when it was debatable whether he was better than Cameron Archer. Then he kept coming on midway through the second half and scoring. There was no doubt that we had a player of immense potential on our hands. There wasn’t much more doubt that he was shaping up to be the biggest threat to dressing room harmony since Stan Collymore.
In an ideal world we’d have kept Duran and Ollie Watkins together, if not on the pitch at the same time then as a formidable starter and replacement partnership. But caught between the rules on one side and pissing off Unai once too often on the other, Duran was away for a tidy profit at a price that worked out at around £10 million for every league start.
That Duran’s gone into semi-retirement at 21 says everything about him and his advisers. He’ll be phenomenally well-paid but there’s no way that in two or three years time he’ll be the player he could have been had he stayed in Europe. Jack Grealish chose medals over immortality and Duran has chosen money over both. I’d normally feel varying stages of antipathy for a player who wanted to leave, and wish good luck to most who were surplus to requirements, but I don’t have any such feelings towards Duran. In a strange way it already seems like he’s never been here.
Then there’s the arrivals. Donyell Malen was cast as the early signing this time, his move from Dortmund was relatively pain-free and his appearances so far have showed promise. He’s quick and he knows where the goals are, which are both things we’ve been missing.
Coming from the Spanish second division, Andres Garcia would appear to be the sort of player we always used to sign at the last minute. The difference is that Unai knows what he’s doing. It’s too early to tell for certain but from his first 45 minutes Garcia seems highly promising.
Then, as it seemed we were going back to the old habits of inertia we had the busiest weekend for a long while. Marcus Rashford doesn’t seem an Emery type of player but on his day he’s a world-class forward with experience in abundance and a desire to prove himself away from the basket case where he’s been playing.
Marco Asensio has certainly got plenty of experience at the highest level. You don’t spend seven seasons at Real Madrid, winning the Champions Leagùe three times, if you aren’t top quality. He’s another who can open up defences as well as score himself.
All this attacking seemed very well, but there was still a shortfall in defence, and bringing someone in was the trickiest job of the lot, as there aren’t many defenders good enough to play for the Villa but content to be fourth-choice. In the end we thought that a small fortune for a four month loan was worth the expense and after a few hours of negotiations Axel Disasi turned up. He’s a big unit and he can pay at right-back, although it seems that half a dozen of our players can do that as well.
Then finally, because we’re a big club we make our own rules and the promising Turkish defender Yasin Ozcan, a full international at eighteen, arrived at some stage.
So there you have it; possibly the best January of all time. I don’t suppose all the arrivals will come off and there’s bound to be one or of the outgoings we’ll end up regretting. Loans might not be as good for us as outright buys but rules is rules and the players we’ve brought in are a long way from the old days of letting other clubs give their kids some experience or fob off their unwanted expenses onto us.
We’ve done well this window and to all the new arrivals I can only extend the traditional H&V greeting: Welcome to the most wonderful club you’ll ever play for. Don’t be shit.