Fresh like strawberries: Aston Villa linked with replacements for Laursen and Barry

I like rumours and if you come here often, you'll know why, but to summarise; it suggests that we might actually be doing stuff and that there might be something happening, but where do you draw the line? There are a few more rumours today and well, I can honestly say I hadn't heard of a few of them as players.

Now, just because I haven't heard of them as players doesn't mean that they're just made up rumours, it could be that we really are after Yohan Cabaye from Lille, just like Arsenal are, or it could be that people are just going to link us to any player that can play where Gareth Barry plays because he is off to Liverpool in a few weeks.

Now, if Gaz Baz really is off to Liverpool, then I for one fancy we need to replace him with someone who knows the English game or is so bloody good that he isn't going to need time to adjust in the way that a lot of players would after arriving in England. Now, while it isn't as tough as it used to be, the replacement would need to come early, as in, not a day before the season starts.

Talking of replacements, someone that is going to be extremely hard to replace is Martin Laursen, but according to one paper, we might have found who we want. Talk this morning is that we're interested in Romanian central defender Nicolae Dorin Goian, currently plying his trade for Steaua Bucharest.

According to The Currant Bun, Martin O'Neill is going to put in a £5.5mn. offer for the 28 year old central defender, but I quite fancy we could get Olof Mellberg back for a little less or even Gary Cahill for about the same and he's quite a lot younger, but I'm not that manager and I have no doubt we'll go into next season fully prepared. Although letting those two players go, in my opinion were mistakes.

Another mistake would be letting Craig Gardner leave and while I was, to put it quite specifically, pissed off at the sale of Cahill and letting Mellberg go, despite all the talk of contract offers and Mellberg saying if a contract was offered he would sign, if Gardner is allowed to leave, I think I'd be even more pissed off.

But that is something else, however and for the record, £10mn. for Barry would be excellent money and I think we should bite the hand off of whoever is offering it, if in fact that is the number. As for his replacement, well, we'll have to wait and see but I fancy we're going to see early signings this summer, but is it complete madness to think Gardner should have a little run in central midfield?

I'll leave you with this video, because it made me laugh and I quite liked laughing this morning and because I'm thinking about adding a video every post now, don't know why, just because. Right, I'm off to get more coffee as most of it spilt when watching this, maybe more later, actually hopefully more later.