Phil SumblerAndre Ayew was always likely to be a man in demand when his contract ran out. One of the reasons the Swans would not find a suitor was always the crazy contract that he was given when we signed him back from West Ham but now he is a free agent then the chances of moves are stronger.
On the face of it, a man who scored 17 times at Championship level last season will be a good signing for anyone on a free. The issue with Ayew will always be whether he will lower his wage demands to make a good move happen or whether his representatives will be holding out for similar terms to what we paid him when we signed him. The former is the most sensible, the latter is more likely to happen from experience.
Former Scottish Champions Celtic were one of the first to be linked. They will be smarting this season after surrendering their title to Rangers by some distance and will look to Ayew if they sign him to grab the goals to help bring those titles back. However, an Andre Ayew wage demand could well be out of the reach of someone like Celtic. Well supported, hugely successful but there is no getting away from the fact that the money in the Scottish game is a fraction of the English game. And with Celtic traditionally out of Europe at least once by the end of August I think this could be a non starter.
The link with Leeds United is an interesting one. Ayew and Bielsa were together at Marseille for a season back in 2014 and whilst they have said nothing about the links, former player Carlton Palmer thinks it would be a good fit “Swansea have only let him go because they didn’t get promoted and he’s their highest-paid player,” he said.
“17 goals in the Championship, 16 goals the season before stands to reason that he will go up and score goals in the Premier League. If he weighs in with 10 or 12 goals for you, and you take him on a free, that could be some good business.”
This could be a good fit but given Ayew returned 17 goals in the Championship, I am not sure he has 10 or 12 in the Premier League in him any more. That isn’t disrespectful but how many players score 12 a season in the Premier League on an average season and is Ayew in that class? That is the Andre Ayew of 2021 not the one of say 2015.
I am sure there will be more links for Ayew before he finds his home but for each of them just wonder how much of it comes from a position of knowledge and how much comes from a “he scored 17 in the Championship, the paper told me” viewpoint.
