Aston Villa are closing in on the signing of Charles N'Zogbia despite a late attempt by Sunderland to hijack the deal. N'Zogbia is regarded as a natural replacement for Stewart Downing, with Villa planning to spend around half of the £20m they have received from Liverpool on the Wigan Athletic winger. Sunderland have belatedly entered the race and have faint hopes of persuading N'Zogbia to move to the Stadium of Light. Steve Bruce, the Sunderland manager, has coveted N'Zogbia for some time, although there is an acceptance that Villa are at the head of queue. Talks between Villa and Wigan are believed to be at an advanced stage and there is unlikely to be any problem with the personal terms. N'Zogbia is expected to agree a £65,000-per-week deal. Newcastle United also had a strong interest in bringing N'Zogbia back to Tyneside â the 25-year-old was with the club between 2004-2009 before joining Wigan for £6m â but Alan Pardew has conceded defeat. "I am told that Charles has got an imminent move, so I don't think that will be us," the Newcastle manager said. Villa have still to conclude a deal for Shay Given, although they remain confident that it is only a matter of time before the 35-year-old goalkeeper moves to the Midlands. The delay is at the City end, with Given's representatives trying to reach an agreement over his settlement figure. The transfers involving Richard Dunne and Stephen Ireland, who also moved from City to Villa, were held up for similar reasons. Villa could yet move for another City player, with Shaun Wright-Phillips understood to be on their radar. Wright-Phillips is one of a number of players on the fringes that City have deemed surplus to requirements
The End Could Be Near Mind you, if this was "The Bell End Could Be Near" it might mean we are close to signing him.
Could someone please explain to me how Villa can afford such wages? They are of a similar stature to us so what is it?????
But we have sold Bent and Hendo and got a few in for IMO very good value for money so in effect we could also do similar but then again is he worth it?
Unfortunately we still have the likes of Nosworthy, Kilgannon and a few more pieces of dead wood that are eating up the profits we made in the past. Even so we operate to a certain wage cap, and Short and Quinn will stand by it for the immediate future. Theyve done us proud so far, so ride with them. KTF.
I think we probably could afford the wages, well Short could. But just think if we paid him 65k a week Gyan and Sess would be straight round to the managers office demanding more. By having a wage cap players know they can't just ask for whatever they want. I trust Bruce, for 10m I am sure we could get someone just as good, Krancjar for instance.
He is a very good player but £10m (last year of his contract) and £65k per week? Not for me. Let desperate Villa have the day and the huge bills to go with it.
Personally, I would rather spend the money on a top class forward. Richardson can play in the left wing position, in time Whickham can play there and if we are fortunate enough to get Welbeck again, we know he can play in that role too. The Zog is good but we are not so desparate for him as to undermine wage structures and, potentially, the harmony within the club. Just hope Brucey doesn't take his bat and ball home and sulk for weeks. Hope the rumours are true that we are looking at a forward from the Bundesliga and that something comes to fruition whilst on tour.
Time to get over him & move on. Onwards & upwards, we want players who WANT to play for the jersey, not just intent to drink the club dry before pissing off to a better offer.
I was really hoping he'd come back to Toon but alas it's not to be. Hopefully we'll spend £10m on a decent striker but to be fair fat Ash will probs only spend half that.
One of the Spurs lads the other day suggested their wage cap is 60k a week. Obviously the London advantage helps them attract players. My point is, if this is the case, N'Zogbia is asking for more money than Bale, Lennon, Van Der Vaart and Kranjkaer, which is frankly pathetic.
Carlton Cole, Shall we start a rumour ? Carlton Cole is ready to snub talks with Stoke after their chairman questioned his injury record on TV. Peter Coates’ comments have angered the England marksman and are now threatening Tony Pulis’ bid to bring Cole to the Britannia Stadium. A source close to the £4.5million deal said last night: “Carlton has a lot of respect for Tony Pulis. But he hasn’t asked to leave West Ham. "And seeing the Stoke chairman talking on Sky Sports about his fitness upset him.” http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/tra...ury-record-in-TV-interview-article768410.html
£4.5 million ain't bad money for Cole actually, sometimes he looks like a very good player. It's just the other 80% of the time he's absolute toss. When we drew 2-2 with West Ham 2 seasons back, he put in one of the best forward displays i have ever seen in the first half, he was unplayable.
