Phil Sumbler
When Steve Cooper signed Joel Latibeaudiere in October 2020 there was a real hope that the Swans boss at the time had unearthed another one of the youth players that he knew so well from his time with the England youth set up.
Latibeaudiere played the full game of the final of the 2017 Under-17 World Cup and picked up a winners medal as Cooper’s side won the trophy in India.
Fast forward two years though and it is fair to say that “stop start” is a phrase that was coined to describe Joel’s career here. He has more than 50 appearances to his name, many of them off the bench, but never really been seen as the player who would be high on the list of most fan’s selections should they have a choice on who to pick.
But it is clear that Russell Martin does have some faith in Joel with the player appearing in fifteen of our twenty-one Championship matches to date this season and the player himself is now wanting to repay some of that faith as the team put the final preparations to their Championship return on the weekend.
Norwich City are the visitors to SA1 this Saturday and Latibeaudiere is in line for yet another appearance for the club as they look to defeat their visitors and move back ahead of them as the league approaches its halfway mark.
“The manager and I speak a lot,” said Latibeaudiere when referencing the faith that has been shown in him by Martin.
“He goes through the different positions that he likes me to play. I feel like I’m versatile and I’m confident in my ability, I feel like the manager does trust me and it’s helped me a lot.
“Working with him and Gilly, off the pitch as well in the analysis room, it’s really helping to drive my career forward and I’m loving it.
“I don’t care where I am on the pitch, I just want to be on the pitch. Anything I can do to help the team, I will do.”
Latibeaudiere was a part of the Swansea squad that travelled to Scotland last week where they warmed up for their Championship return with wins over both Hearts and Dundee United and that is something that Joel believes will be beneficial when the real action gets underway on Saturday.
“It has been a really good week, we have got a lot of work in on and off the field, and the time away has allowed us to spend more time together as a group as we get ready to go again.”
Whatever your views on Latibeaudiere as a player it is key that there is that faith in him from Russell Martin and that the Swans boss very much sees him as a key member of his first team squad.
And whilst that is the case it appears that Joel is here to stay and he could not be any happier.
