So, Liverpool upped their offer to £20m, Stewart Downing handed in a formal transfer request and there’s not much more that needs saying. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Stewie. Textbook no-brainer.

That’s £8m more than we paid Middlesbrough two years ago, but represents a £14m profit in terms of “disposal of player’s registration”. Aside from the fact that we went from three wingers to two recently, and now to just the one, it still represents some good trading. We clearly didn’t want to sell him, but there was little alternative, we got a great deal out of it.

What remains to be seen is whether we’ve sold a key player to a direct rival. Going into the last two seasons, I would have said that was definitely the case. Unfortunately, I’m not convinced that we’ll really be competing with the red side of Liverpool for position this time around.

For what it’s worth, I think Downing will do well at Anfield and will make the famous number 19 shirt his own. *snigger* I am genuinely a little sad to see him go, I think he really was an extremely valuable member of the squad – as the transfer fee just backs up – but he’s certainly not irreplaceable.

One In

In far more positive news, Shay Given finally made the switch from Eastlands – or Etihad Dome or whatever it’s to be called – to Villa Park in a deal said to be about £4m after signing a five year contract.

Just as when fellow Irishmen Richard Dunne and Stephen Ireland made the same switch, the hold up seemed to centre around securing a pay off from the Manchester club; those inflated salaries are hard to give up.

Given is 35 years old, five years younger than Brad Friedel, and around the same age Edwin van der Sar was when he moved to Man Utd. There’s no doubt that he’s an absolute top notch goalkeeper and will more than likely have a point to prove. Hopefully he’ll stay injury free and we’ll have several great seasons from him.

Fitness is the crucial issue though. There’s no question that he’s an excellent signing and will fit into the squad perfectly, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Brad Guzan seeing more than just cup action this season.

In any case, Shay Given is an excellent first signing for Alex McLeish, welcome to Aston Villa, Shay.

One on the fence

In less positive news, Rangers hadn’t given up on their chase of Carlos Cuellar and upped their bid to £2m; an amount which has been accepted by Villa, giving Cuellar the opportunity to talk to his previous club. It seems like the decision on his future lies with the player then, and he’d previously described the prospect of a return as “exciting”.

I’m sure I speak for the majority of fans when I say that I hope King Carlos stays, but it is another example of the painfully familiar case of a player with a year remaining on his contract. He turns 30 next month and probably earns a decent whack, I can perfectly understand the club being willing to let him go. Sadly.

The £2m fee might seem ludicrous given what we paid for him, but with the way these things are accounted for, it would actually be recorded as a small “profit”, believe it or not.

One in the wings

With Marc Albrighton the only remaining wing specialist, we clearly have a vacancy for a quality wide man (or two). It looks like Charles N’Zogbia is top of the list and it’s just a matter of agreeing a price with honest Dave Whelan.

With our weakness on the flanks glaringly obvious, a “solid” signing like N’Zogbia makes sense. We could look abroad for a cheaper, more exciting signing perhaps, but N’Zogbia’s well weathered in the Premier League, we know what we’ll get. The fee might be larger, the wages too, but the risk would definitely be lower.

I think he’d be a fine replacement for Downing. In fact, I think he’d bring a whole new dynamic to our team that the likes of Bent and Gabby can really thrive on.

It would be nice to get any deal wrapped up before the first pre-season game at Walsall on Thursday, but at least we do now have a first choice goalkeeper. More importantly, because of the bonding opportunity it offers, would be to get someone like N’Zogbia in ahead of next week’s trip to Hong Kong.

We’d then have a fully functional team, any further additions would be about improving it, and we’ve already covered how that will need to mostly be balanced with players heading for the exit door.