[Albion] Sky sports: Villa interested in Biss

[Swansman]

Can we get him on Mastermind, specialist subject the Bleedin' Obvious? Of course a bid of that size would be seriously considered for a player with 18 months left on a contract, and it wouldn't matter where it came from. It's all very well us being sniffy about Villa and their fans' big talk, but I think we should dial that down a bit. Clubs rise and fall, as we know only too well. It's not that long ago that we lost players and a manager to mighty Reading. Whether Bissouma would be interested in going to Villa rather than holding out for a club playing in Europe is another question entirely.

One possibility that few seem to be considering is that TB might be okay with the idea of not selling, but just enjoying Bissouma being a Brighton player until the end of his deal. After all, he refused to sell Dale Stephens with less than a year remaining of his contract because he thought that the player staying with us was more important for the team. If the club decide that Caicedo isn't quite ready to step up and that Biss staying gets us in the conversation for Europe or keeps us in the Premier League then the calculation becomes a more complex one. And that's leaving out the possibility of, er, legal complexities or even the player signing a contract extension in gratitude for the club's support while he was on bail.

Saying no to £4m from Burnley is a different thing than rejecting £25-50m for a big club wanting to sign Biss. Unless Biss himself want to sit out the contract, he'll go.

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Villa would be deluded to think that way. In the unlikely event that our asking price would be cheaper in summer then it would be cheaper for everyone else too and clubs that could offer him European football would have the advantage.

Villa aren't thinking that way, Villa want him now (according to rumours). It's the bigger clubs who are biding their time waiting to see what happens, thinking he'd be cheaper and they'd be able to offer European football, but would be forced to move if someone like Villa had a bid accepted.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

Villa aren't thinking that way, Villa want him now. It's the bigger clubs who are biding their time waiting to see what happens, thinking he'd be cheaper and they'd be able to offer European football, but would be forced to move if someone like Villa had a bid accepted.

Correct, I misread the original post.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

Saying no to £4m from Burnley is a different thing than rejecting £25-50m for a big club wanting to sign Biss. Unless Biss himself want to sit out the contract, he'll go.

It's a difference of degree, I grant you, but still a balance of the club's ambitions in the short term versus the conventional financial wisdom.

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Saying no to £4m from Burnley is a different thing than rejecting £25-50m for a big club wanting to sign Biss. Unless Biss himself want to sit out the contract, he'll go.

It's not really that different. It's the worth vs risk to the club that Tony Bloom is weighing up. Stephens wanted the move to Premier League Burnley, but Bloom decided that keeping him with us in the Championship was worth the risk as the reward of promotion to the PL was worth more than the transfer fee was.

It's the same with Bissouma, any offer will be considered with the impact it will have on the club, how much would a replacement cost, are any of our younger players ready to step up and replace him. Will they be ready in 18 months if we keep Bissouma and he moves for nothing then. What is our potential to improve our standing in the PL further in those 18 months with Biss in the team?

There will be a point where Tony simply says yes to an offer because it covers what he sees as the risk of letting Bissouma go now compared to waiting it out and giving others time to develop, but he'll reject anything that doesn't match that.

 

[nwgull]

It's not really that different. It's the worth vs risk to the club that Tony Bloom is weighing up. Stephens wanted the move to Premier League Burnley, but Bloom decided that keeping him with us in the Championship was worth the risk as the reward of promotion to the PL was worth more than the transfer fee was.

It's the same with Bissouma, any offer will be considered with the impact it will have on the club, how much would a replacement cost, are any of our younger players ready to step up and replace him. Will they be ready in 18 months if we keep Bissouma and he moves for nothing then. What is our potential to improve our standing in the PL further in those 18 months with Biss in the team?

There will be a point where Tony simply says yes to an offer because it covers what he sees as the risk of letting Bissouma go now compared to waiting it out and giving others time to develop, but he'll reject anything that doesn't match that.

You’re right. Although this is slightly different in that the only club making bids for Dale Stephens back in 2016 was Burnley, so that thought they could be clever and start their bid low - 2m wasn’t it? - in July before eventually building it up to the 7-8m they finally offered on the eve of the transfer window shutting. With Biss, we’re in a far stronger position as we’ve got several PL clubs interested in him that are more than capable of paying 50m+, so any pissing about with derogatory bids, either now or in July, is just going to result in them missing out.

 

[Icy Gull]

I have no idea but even if Villa come in with say a 50 million bid surely Biss would need to agree to the move even if TB wanted the money, again I know nothing but would a move to Villa appeal to Biss given the alleged interest from BIG clubs?

My perfect window would be Biss signing a contract extension if that’s the only business we do

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

I have no idea but even if Villa come in with say a 50 million bid surely Biss would need to agree to the move even if TB wanted the money, again I know nothing but would a move to Villa appeal to Biss given the alleged interest from BIG clubs?

My perfect window would be Biss signing a contract extension if that’s the only business we do

Of course he would, but even if Tony accepted the bid I don't think he would be too disappointed if Yves turned the move down.

My perfect window would also involve Trossard, Maupay and Mac Allister signing contract extensions.

 

[dazzer6666]

It's not really that different. It's the worth vs risk to the club that Tony Bloom is weighing up. Stephens wanted the move to Premier League Burnley, but Bloom decided that keeping him with us in the Championship was worth the risk as the reward of promotion to the PL was worth more than the transfer fee was.

It's the same with Bissouma, any offer will be considered with the impact it will have on the club, how much would a replacement cost, are any of our younger players ready to step up and replace him. Will they be ready in 18 months if we keep Bissouma and he moves for nothing then. What is our potential to improve our standing in the PL further in those 18 months with Biss in the team?

There will be a point where Tony simply says yes to an offer because it covers what he sees as the risk of letting Bissouma go now compared to waiting it out and giving others time to develop, but he'll reject anything that doesn't match that.

Exactly........multiple factors affecting the decision, some of which we have absolutely no clue about (most obvious being whether Biss has been offered, or is willing to sign, a new deal). Given where we are in the league, and the talent coming through it wouldn't surprise me if things lined up for us to let him go in this window but it'll be an eye-watering amount of money if he does (and if he is willing to move and we're prepared to sell, Villa - if they are genuinely interested anyway - are going to find themselves in a fight with the big boys I suspect).

 

[The Optimist]

Even if Villa met our asking price* would we want to sell to them? They are direct competition.

* by asking price I mean what we’d accept from a Man City Liverpool etc.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Villa are showing interest now precisely because the police investigation will make others take a step back from spending that much money - they're seeing a potential opportunity and making enquiries. I wouldn't expect a big 6 team to match that bid - maybe Newcastle?

I would honestly be surprised if Bissouma would agree to a new four year deal there but not with us, he seems to like it here and whatever their ambition they're going to struggle to get in the champions league conversation for many years. Can they really offer 'that' much more than us in wages - I'm sure we'd stretch our salary structure to the limit to extend his deal.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Is Aston Villa a "big club" these days?

 

[jcdenton08]

Nothing will happen while legal issues are ongoing.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Is Aston Villa a "big club" these days?

Yeah, I think they're on the move, no doubt that hiring Gerrard and signing Coutinho are big statements; the people running the club seem pretty shrewd and they've got the stadium, the fanbase, the history, the 'name' to back it up..

I'd rather see Villa in and around the top of the league than Chelsea or City. Maybe its also about time that a club could join that big 6 conversation without being bankrolled by a country or oligarch, and with Everton ****ing it up repeatedly maybe Villa can do it. And along with Leicester, gives the rest of us all some hope.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Naylor actually says a bid of £50 million would demand serious consideration from Tony.

Our other problem is that Trossard, Maupay and Mac Allister ( and others ) are also out of contract at the same time.

We are facing a massive rebuild unless we get some of these deals extended.

In the past decade or so we've been very good at tying up contracts well ahead of this point, so maybe what we're seeing is part of a sea-change in the way players are viewing their contracts and future options. It used to be that players wouldn't take the risk of finding themselves out of contract when a serious injury struck, but they are becoming so rich it is less of a risk than in previous generations (and in lower divisions) - and the rewards of negotiating big salaries and signing-on fees when there is no transfer fee involved are becoming ever greater.

Meanwhile the wealth disparity between Premier league clubs and foreign clubs has become massive, with perhaps only PSG, a few German clubs and maybe a couple of others able to compete with the English top 6 on transfer fees. European clubs are running out of money. So players are letting their contracts run down to get more of a choice about where to go, and to get that move to Spain or Italy. David Alaba to Madrid from Bayern is a case in point; Rudiger is clearly looking at a big move on a free, Pogba, Mbappe may follow.

Interesting discussion on the Monday night club the other day about precisely this, from 43 minutes here https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0bf5ct2

None of the four Brighton players we are talking about are British - they may find playing anywhere in the continent attractive, perhaps more so - maybe a country where they can speak their first language, with better weather and worse defenders, but how can they get that dream move if they are tied to a big contract in England and none of these overseas clubs can meet our demands? Running it down might be the only way.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Even if Villa met our asking price* would we want to sell to them? They are direct competition.

* by asking price I mean what we’d accept from a Man City Liverpool etc.

Exactly how I feel.

 

[Stato]

If Tony Bloom's price is £50 million upfront as with Ben White, when he knocked back Leeds before the contract extension, then Aston Villa would have to spend £17 million more than they have ever previously paid for a player. Either they are hoping to get him on the cheap, or they are prepared to massively smash their transfer record following pandemic losses, or this is just paper talk. (i.e lies / speculation).

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Yeah, I think they're on the move, no doubt that hiring Gerrard and signing Coutinho are big statements; the people running the club seem pretty shrewd and they've got the stadium, the fanbase, the history, the 'name' to back it up..

I'd rather see Villa in and around the top of the league than Chelsea or City. Maybe its also about time that a club could join that big 6 conversation without being bankrolled by a country or oligarch, and with Everton ****ing it up repeatedly maybe Villa can do it. And along with Leicester, gives the rest of us all some hope.

Villa might not being being bankrolled by an oligarch or funded by a state but they aren't exactly an also run in the money stakes. Owned by private equity investor from the USA and with something like the 4th highest net spend in the PL over the last 5 seasons (would probably be higher placed if you considered only the 3 seasons they've been in the PL). It's not quite the fairy tale some might perceive it to be.

 

[Silverhatch]

Villa are showing interest now precisely because the police investigation will make others take a step back from spending that much money - they're seeing a potential opportunity and making enquiries. I wouldn't expect a big 6 team to match that bid - maybe Newcastle?

I would honestly be surprised if Bissouma would agree to a new four year deal there but not with us, he seems to like it here and whatever their ambition they're going to struggle to get in the champions league conversation for many years. Can they really offer 'that' much more than us in wages - I'm sure we'd stretch our salary structure to the limit to extend his deal.

Where has it been confirmed anywhere that Villa are showing interest, other than from the chuckle brothers Dharmesh & Kaveh? They NEED people to regurgitate their bollocks scoops to validate them. Also, as you and others have pointed out, while Biss has been released under investigation what are the chances of him being transferred for up to £50m - Brighton's new go to price for the "Big Boys" to prize away international-class playing assets? YB is still a person of interest to Sussex police for an alleged very serious offence. He'll go nowhere until that investigation plays out. It's double bollocks.

 

[BRIGHT ON Q]

Biss is better than the 50m bracket. He never comes off 2nd best in midfield no matter who the opponent. It will be a massive loss for us if he goes but it looks a formality. In some ways if he goes to one of the big boys I can accept it but if he goes to Villa......