Hoddle Praise For Swansea’s Scouting

Tuesday, 1 September 2015, 7:00
1 min read

When Wilfried Bony was sold to Manchester City last season there were many that wondered where the goals would come from but in Bafetimbi Gomis and Andre Ayew they already have seven goals in the bag this season and with plenty more to come it is no wonder that the acquisition of these two is being praised by so many.

The Swans have picked up both Gomis and Ayew on a free transfer whilst Premier League rivals are spending small fortunes on one player purchases in their bid to get better. The Swans philosophy has always been to bring people on board who can fit perfectly into their team and it has paid dividends over the past five years whilst we have been in the Premier League as we seem to improve every season.

The habit of bringing in exceptional talent from abroad goes right back to when Roberto Martinez was at the club and also flies in the face of those who believed it would be one of the things that Garry Monk would struggle with.

Hoddle puts much of that work down to George Foster who is head of European scouting at the club and who Hoddle has worked with before.

“I was astonished to be told that the two strikers up front for Swansea are both free transfers. It just shows you that you donรขโ‚ฌโ„ขt have to spend millions to find quality” said Hoddle.

“My old academy chief scout George Foster is now head of European recruitment at Swansea with his chief scout Dave Leadbetter. They have to take an enormous amount of credit bringing those players in. They sold Wilfried Bony, a great player, and replaced him with two strikers making the difference.

“Thatรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs what you want from your recruitment team. For that second goal, the move they put together was the best piece of pure football Iรขโ‚ฌโ„ขve seen all season.”

<#mufc>

Images courtesy of Getty Images, Athena Picture Agency and Swansea City Football Club.

League Table

Next Up

Forum Latest

Next Up

League Table

Last 6 Results

Latest from Blog

Swans TV: Swansea City v Fleetwood | Highlights | U21s

. . .Watch some of the key moments from the Swans' 21's Premier League Cup game against Fleetwood Town F.C. at the Joma High Performance Centre. For more information, as well as all the latest Swansea City AFC news, log onto the club's official website at http://www.swanseacity.com Subscribe on YouTube:…

Swans TV: Swansea City v Leeds United | Highlights

. . .watch all the the key moments from the Swans' Championship clash against Leeds at the Swansea.com Stadium. For more information, as well as all the latest Swansea City AFC news, log onto the club's official website at http://www.swanseacity.com Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SWANSPLAYER Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SwanseaCityFC Follow…

Swans TV: Swansea City v Leeds United | The Full Match

. . .watch all of the action from the Swans' Championship clash against Leeds at the Swansea.com Stadium. For more information, as well as all the latest Swansea City AFC news, log onto the club's official website at http://www.swanseacity.com Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SWANSPLAYER Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SwanseaCityFC Follow us…

Swans TV: Swansea City v Leeds United | Extended Highlights

. . .watch all the the key moments from the Swans' Championship clash against Leeds at the Swansea.com Stadium. For more information, as well as all the latest Swansea City AFC news, log onto the club's official website at http://www.swanseacity.com Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SWANSPLAYER Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SwanseaCityFC Follow…

Swans TV: Luke Williams on Leeds United | Reaction

. . .Luke Williams talks to SwansTV following his side's 4-3 loss against Leeds at the Swansea.com stadium. For more information, as well as all the latest Swansea City AFC news, log onto the club's official website at http://www.swanseacity.com Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SWANSPLAYER Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SwanseaCityFC Follow us…