Phil SumblerOne of the very first things I was told when Andy Coleman took over as Chairman of Swansea City was that he would like to block the leaks that have become so frequent again from the club in recent years.
It has been an age old battle for owners of football clubs to block leaks and in more than twenty two years of running this site I have heard that particular sentence on many occasions generally at the time when transfer windows are at their most active. Rumours of transfer interest usually surface somewhere and even more so since the development of social media outlets over the past 10-15 years which have increased the ability of a rumour to spread or a potential signing to be spotted (outside Rossis!)
So it is an age old problem that is facing Andy Coleman – as he learns much about football in this country – that he is faced with but at the same time there is probably no doubt that he has discussed his desire with both Paul Watson and Michael Duff.
Last week we saw evidence that it can work with the signing of Josh Ginnelly from Hearts. Whilst it was not the club that first broke the news as Michael Duff himself said on Saturday the player was “in the building” and just awaiting a medical before the official announcement that arrived yesterday afternoon.
So whilst we all sit back and await the signing of Josh Key that has been anything other than secret there would be no surprise at all if there was more signings coming hot on the heels which have not been picked up upon yet by any form of media.
It could even be that some of the links – Max Johnstone for example – are out there to throw people off the scent of true deals that are being worked on. Far fetched that may sound but it’s not the first time it would have happened. Similarly we will also have agents touting around their players to generate seeming interest to drive up prices or contract values. A well trodden tactic is that one (remember Ashley Williams proposed moves away almost every summer in the Premier League era?)
Coleman, Watson and Duff will no doubt be working on the potential of far more deals than the ones which have hit the public domain at the moment. The question we don’t know yet is whether they will get the deals far enough down the line to surprise people how advanced they are when it becomes public information.
Right now with a different feel about the club I would not be at all surprised to find a new name in the mix before the week is out or even a signing that takes us all by surprise, maybe not a permanent one but a loan deal even! In fact right now I think I would be disappointed if that was not the case. Particularly as that is in line with that feeling of overall change at the club.
Don’t you just love a transfer window!
