Phil Sumbler
Joel Piroe is likely to be the man in demand this summer with the Swans facing the tough decision on whether to hold onto their leading scorer after a sensational first season in English football.
With more than twenty league goals to his name, he will have come to the attention of plenty of clubs over the past nine months and right now will command one of the largest transfer fees that the Swans will have ever commanded should he move on in the summer.
Not bad for a striker written off by a former director before his signing with the words “worse than Aiden Newhouse”- a statement that has been thrown back many times over the course of the season.
Interest from Leicester City is certainly gathering momentum as the season draws to a close and it is suggested that there are many more watching the future of Piroe who admitted this week that he is holding regular talks with his agent over the speculation although “nothing official” has been put on the table for either club nor player to consider.
It will be a dilemma for the club this season with Piroe right now the clubs most valuable asset off the pitch but arguably on it as well. However, we know the club’s model and we know how we work when it comes to transfers and it may well be that we almost have to cash in during the summer to be able to progress in the full direction that Russell Martin would want us to do so.
For that to happen the transfer fee received has to be largely reinvested back into the squad knowing that with the right scouting and player sourcing we can increase the overall strength of the squad in the way that we have done so many times in the past.
The flip side to that of course is that the Championship does not have that many twenty goal a season strikers which is pretty much what we would see from Piroe next season if we elected to hold onto him although the form of Michael Obafemi in the second half of the season suggests that we may already have another twenty goal striker on our books which kind of softens the blow especially if – as suggested above – a large part of the fee went into team restrengthening.
Much of this, of course, is likely to be taken out of our hands with the player and agent likely to make their own decision as to whether the Swans should be looking to sell here – if he wants to take the opportunity then it is more than likely to happen whatever the wishes or current intent of the club is.
“I just want to finish the season very well. We will see what happens after that but I am very happy here,” Piroe said after picking up various awards this week at the awards dinner.
“There has been nothing official. Of course you hear a lot but I am very happy to be here.”
They are definitely the words that you expect to hear at this point in time but Piroe is a young player, full of talent and rightly full of ambition. If calls come from the Premier League – particularly from the more ‘established’ clubs then your head will be turned and your desire to play at the highest level should, rightly so, come to the fore. Joel Piroe is not alone in being in that position.
It’s difficult for us, as fans, to imagine a position where we get to enjoy the striker for a second season. The interest is real and is likely to increase once the season ends and club and player need to make their own decisions for the very right reasons. If Joel chooses to leave then he should leave with our best wishes and thanks for a brilliant season and the requirements for us will remain that we replace, we replace well and we grow as a football club on the pitch as a result of it. On the pitch we talk about the Swansea way, off the pitch that has been our model. And sustainability of the club is important at all times.
Russell Martin’s words last week should give us some comfort that if we are to partake in a transfer for Joel then it will be at the price that is right – as a reminder Martin said “We have a valuation for Joel and I don’t think that’s going to be flexible really. We can’t say we’re definitely not going to sell him, I can’t say that about any player because any player outside the top four in the Premier League is for sale at the right price.
“But it’ll take a huge sum of money to take him away from us. Joel’s not in a desperate rush to leave.”
There is little doubt in my mind that the interest from Leicester will be just the start of the summer activity that surrounds Piroe with more interest certainly to be reported and his fate for next season remains very much unknown but with his price match on his head it remains that difficult situation to imagine a position where the club can hold onto one of their prized assets.
Piroe will, of course, have the chance on Saturday to add to his goal tally for the season (and maybe add a few £ to his transfer value?) but whatever happens during the course of the next few months we should look back on this season with thanks for what he gave us – where would we have been without his goals particularly before Christmas? – and know that the talent he has will almost certainly at some point see him playing at the highest levels of the game.
And from our point of view we can always hope that there is someone out there even worse than Aiden Newhouse again…
