Phil SumblerWith just eight days left of the transfer window it is probably fair to say that the Swans have not yet finished their business in this window and that Russell Martin is targeting more incomings to the club before the window closes next Monday.
It has been a relatively strong window for the Swans so far with three quality additions in Andy Fisher, Cyrus Christie and Hannes Wolf all arriving at the club with both Christie and Wolf already having made their first team debuts whilst Fisher’s arrival has coincided with two better performances from Ben Hamer.
However, we know that Martin wants more and he has at least two key targets that he would have liked to have added in January in Harry Darling and James McAtee. In the case of Darling then money remains the issue and the manager himself has stated that he knows he has to move people on to free up the kind of cash players like Darling would cost.
Jay Fulton, Yan Dhanda and possible Jamie Paterson are key here – the movement of one of these could make a difference although in the case of Dhanda it may need to be him and one more to free up the kind of money we would need for Darling.
In the case of McAtee then it all depends on Manchester City. It has been suggested by more than one person to us that Swansea are the desired club for both McAtee and his parent club should they decide he goes out on loan but the last part is just not clear at the moment. McAtee has been in and around the first team in recent weeks – he was again a substitute at the weekend as they drew with Southampton – and there is a strong belief he would still learn more from that experience then he would do getting first team experience at Championship level.
Martin is also said to still want a striker. Given the current position concerning Michael Obafemi that is understandable although he has shown he is prepared to give Kyle Joseph appearances in the first team but he will want a further back up to Joel Piroe which is likely to make a move into the transfer market. Links to Sunderland striker Ross Stewart will have no real substance given the fact he would cost more than a Matt O’Riley so any striker move could be out of the window.
Back in the summer the Swans were very close to a loan move for Brentford winger Tarique Fosu who Thomas Frank says could go out on loan this January and, whilst it is not known if the Swans would move again, it could be worth keeping eyes on this particular one as we know that Martin is a fan of the player based on his previous move. Maybe more so if Jamie Paterson’s Swansea career can not be kept alive?
There will also be a few targets that the Swans are looking for that are unknown and not yet reported. Hannes Wolf was a classic example of this and we can certainly almost expect at least one name to sign in the course of the next week that we haven’t been discussing much, if at all, up to this stage.
It will be an interesting week ahead though for the Swans with incomings and outgoings certain to happen and we sit back and start to watch with great interest.
