Villa could probably double his current wages easy. Even though Villa is trying to lower their wages, they still are one of the largest clubs in the EPL and can easy afford a player like Brooks.
I don't sorry thus the 'I think'...Transfermarkt lists his market value at 3M pounds though which is probably a good ballpark figure
In 2012 Brooks was offered a 3 year deal with Bayern Munich but instead forced a good 4 year deal from Hertha. Made sense for playing time
How do you characterize a move to Villa as lateral? Villa is traditionally a much bigger club, has a bigger budget, and until recently was regularly in the top seven in the EPL. Hertha was just recently in 2. BL. Just curious as to your reasoning.
I get your point, but Villa haven't finished above 15 in the three years, while Hertha finished 11th in the Bundesliga this year. He could make more money there I'm sure, and they could turn it around, but it still strikes me as a pretty lateral move at the moment.
In terms of the quality on the squads, it's lateral. In terms of wages, it's definitely not lateral. Aston Villa probably have twice the wage budget of Hertha, if not more.
Sky Sports is reporting that 5 Premier League teams are interested in signing JAB. http://www1.skysports.com/football/...brooks-wanted-by-host-of-premier-league-clubs
Indeed, which is why I said I'm sure he could make more money. I meant lateral move in sporting terms.
"Hertha was recently in the 2. BL" is way oversimplifying it. They finished fourth in the Bundesliga in 2008-09 and consistently draw 40,000-50,000 fans for home games.
You could argue that Villa are a club on the rise and with a new owner coming in, who knows where Villa could end up. There is that uncertainty factor with Villa though. In a couple years we could be competing for Champs league again or still trying to survive. I honestly believe next season Villa will be a comfortable midtable club then with the new owner pushing in the top 10. Villa were just decimated by injuries this season which really hurt us. We were hovering 8-10th place for the first 10-12 games, but then Vlaar, Benteke, Agbonlahor and KEA got injured and we started slipping fast. One thing is for certain, Brooks would definitely get minutes for Villa because Lambert does not rate Baker highly, he considers Clark more of a LB than centerback, Okore is inexperienced, and Vlaar is very injury prone.
Hertha had a run of good years in the mid-2000's, granted, but they've been relegated twice in the last five years. In my opinion, fan base is relevant to size of a club when it results in revenue that is used to strengthen the team. Given that Villa has a much larger budget, I don't think Hertha's revenue from gate sales matters as much. Heck, Leeds have a huge fan base as well. If you're talking purely from an opportunity standpoint for JAB to improve, probably would be lateral.
Does Villa have a much larger budget? I thought they were skimping a bit the past few years. Of course if Lerner sells to a really wealthy buyer, he might pump in a lot of cash. EDIT: Where's @sidefootsitter with his (possibly made up) budget figures?
I was just thinking the same. They've definitely downsized while still having some larger than credible ambitions and just trying to escape being relegation fodder the past 3 years.
Club is up for sale though. New owner, new budget. Any way I think Villa's budget is still larger than Hertha's right now.
Not to mention that our budget has grown significantly with the new investment group. We've already spent a good amount strengthening the squad this offseason. And if it came down to it, there's no way I'd pick Birmingham over Berlin.