Phil SumblerJake Bidwell’s departure from Swansea on Monday was one of what is reported as a number of departures needed this window to fund some incomings into the club as the Swans look to reduce the wage bill and Russell Martin looks to remove people who he does not see in his plans.
On that latter part Jake Bidwell certainly fits that bill. Now. He didn’t at the start of the season but, for whatever reason, he does now having been left out of the team for a while it started to feel that his departure was inevitable.
It was certainly not always that case though. In two and a half years at the club Bidwell made more than 100 appearances for the Swans, 92 of them in the league. Not many players would have made more appearances in that time but it become apparently clear that Martin did not see him in his plans and with interest from both Birmingham and Coventry City he was eventually moved on – as we know – on Monday afternoon.
“I’m delighted to be here, and I’m delighted it’s done.” Bidwell said after completing his move.
“It’s happened quite quickly, I only heard of the interest last week but we managed to get it done and I’m buzzing to be here and I can’t wait to get started properly.
“It’s a massive club and anyone who knows football knows that, and I think the way the Gaffer is trying to do things at the moment and the style of play is brilliant.
“I’ve played against Coventry a few times and they’ve been three tough games.
“They’re a club on the up and things seem to be going in the right direction. Fans are back in and they’re filling the stadium out most weeks and footballing wise, I think it’s a good fit for me and I think the club as a whole is going in the right direction.”
On the face of it having a player here who is not in the manager’s plans is certainly not helpful so on that basis alone letting him go feels the right thing. However, losing Bidwell means we do now need to look at someone to replace him left wing back so we can realistically expect a transfer move in that direction at some point before the window closes.
Freeing up his wages is essential especially if Russell Martin is successful in bringing in say Harry Darling or an equivalent but we also have to balance that against the fact that we have lost a reasonably consistent performer from the last few years.
On balance I think I would go for we are right to let him go based on the overall picture but unless we replace well then it could turn out to be the wrong thing. Let’s hope that is not the case!
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We did not sell him it was a free transfer it’s a bit misleading
Great pity Jakes’ general play and crosses will be sadly missed Why no fee even £200k would be OK but a FREE?
Surely he decided to leave and not sign a new contract and that’s why he was frozen out? RM had to prepare for his absence. Releasing him to a direct competitor isn’t great but it does free up his salary. If we competed for a fee we probably wouldn’t have got anything done by end of Jan and he just would have left in the summer while we soaked up his salary for the next six months.