Aston Villa’s spending this summer is set to reach almost £100m - as they’re close to a £15m deal to sign Manchester City’s 21-year-old midfielder Douglas Luiz (Sky Sports)

We're not 'spending loosely'. We were in desperate need for numbers. 17 players left us last season and we practically had to build a new squad. Most of those brought in are the players we had on loan (el ghazi, mings, hause) and others Smith has managed before and knows his system well (jota, Konsa). With Luiz and Wesley we have a bit of glitz on top, and both are brazillian so should help each other settle. Trezeguet (if he arrives) is Egyptian and Elmo should help him there. Also an arab link with El Ghazi and our owner's Egyptian too. And Targett should fit nicely into the English contingent well.

Importantly, we built the bulk of this team early and before the tour. It gives the new guys time to settle and adjust to Smith's tactics. And very importantly, they're all of the same age bracket. Fulham fucked up by buying high-paid mercinaries who joined at the end of the window (5 or so on the last day). They didn't have any time to bed in and on many occasions they would buy 3 players for 1 position and just not balance the spending across the squad. They had the owner's son picking out players and it felt like he was just playing FM19 at times. Look at Seri and Schurrle. Overpaid and didn't do nearly enough. Seri thought he was better than the club and didn't want to be there. Schurrle was a loan who's been an overpaid past-it winger for 2 years now. Anguissa was their 15th signing on deadline day who was clearly holding out for a better option than Fulham. He didn't have nearly enough time to settle in and looked overwhelmed - probably because he was thrust right into action in a new team and a new city without bedding in.

We have an excellent structure and in Jesus a DOF who has pinpointed specific targets to fill gaps. The balance of our signings, spanned across the squad and not displacing any important players, means bedding them in will be much easier.

I can understand a lot of signings are a risk. But Villa fans know what a lot of them can do. We paid 20m for Mings because he was the most important element in getting us promoted last season. We bought El Ghazi because he's a quality winger who loves the club and knows the system inside out. Same for Hause. Jota and Konsa know Smith back to front and Targett is a professional LB who went to Fulham and excelled. There's far less risk given we KNOW who these players are. As for Wesley and Luiz? Well who doesn't love a bit of Brazillian glitz on top of their meat and potatoes?

The Fulham comparison is so frustrating and predictable. I understand from an outside perspective that it looks like Villa are spending indiscriminately. But we've had Jesus as DoF for a while now and he's been working on these transfers for months - hence why we're doing all our business so early and effectively. This is why a DoF is so fucking important. Time will tell of course but I think it's very different to 'Doing a Fulham'

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